Of Dragons, Knights, and Fairies
by Collaterally Damaging Pen
Summary: Things are once again going to get interesting around Fairy Tail, the usual four, and Wendy. A lot of other characters will also be involved in the story plus some of my own. Eventual Natsu x Erza.
1. Pleasant Talks and First Encounters

_(I do not own any characters or anything associated with Fairy Tail...except one character, which I made myself. I actually own something! xD)_

**Of Dragons, Knights, and Fairies**

Chapter 1 – Pleasant Talks and New Encounters

It was once again another glorious, sun-filled day in the city of Magnolia, home of the increasingly famous magic guild Fairy Tail. The rather extraordinary guild hall showed its colors proudly to anyone who would pass by and welcomed them with its gate opened wide. On the inside was the marvelous guild hall itself, full of life and the banter of various mages enjoying each other's company. On the whole the guild was actually fairly quiet for once, due to the absence of several of the chief troublemakers, Natsu Dragneel and Gray Fullbuster, to their respective missions. Without their constant bickering and fighting the guild hall had actually managed to keep itself intact for about a week. It was practically a miracle.

Erza Scarlet was also gone on an S-class mission to fight some gigantic monster or other which would not have a chance against Erza's blade. With most of the Fairy Tail 'team' gone Lucy found herself alone with Wendy and the two cats Charle and Happy. For some reason Happy had decided not to go with Natsu on his mission, but Lucy had a feeling she knew why, as Happy had been keeping rather close to Charle for a while now even though Charle for the most part ignored him. Lucy and Wendy sat on the counter stools while Mirajane worked behind the counter with her bartending duties. At the moment Wendy found herself mesmerized with the stories Lucy was telling her about the missions she, Natsu, Erza, and Gray had been on.

At the moment Lucy was telling Wendy about the time all four of them had gone to help out a theatre production. "We thought we were just going to help out back for the play, but when we arrived there we found out that the actors had all left the production!"

"So what did you all do then?" Wendy inquired as she sat transfixed by all the adventures Lucy had been telling her.

"Well we still had a job to do so we all became actors in the play!" Lucy then closed her eyes and nodded her head in remembrance and when she opened them up again she continued. "I took the role of princess Yanderica and Erza took on the gallant Prince Frederick. Gray took on the role of the evil villain who had captured me while Natsu was the dragon that he summoned."

"Natsu played a dragon?" Wendy quickly tried to imagine it in her mind, and at the very least the fire breathing part she could see instantly, but the dragon part was a little harder to imagine since for some reason the dragon in her mind had Natsu's hair and scarf on which looked rather strange.

"Ha ha ya he did! They put him in a huge dragon costume and he breathed fire all over the place. So we practiced and practiced and Erza really got into it and then we took stage." Lucy paused at this moment and a bit of a pained look crossed over her face. "It was a complete disaster! The story was all off, Erza got severe stage fright and forgot her lines so the whole production got rushed, Gray used the wrong character name and Happy couldn't keep Natsu up in the air for very long in his dragon costume and he crashed into the stage floor. Everything went wrong!"

Then Happy jumped into the conversation to continue where she left off. "Aye! Then Natsu caught Lucy's dress on fire so Erza quickly rushed over cut off her cl-" Lucy quickly muffled Happy's mouth with her hand and the side of her mouth twinged. She was thankful she had been able to stop Happy before he gave away too much of what happened to her.

"Ah well anyway, so then everyone started fighting and the whole building collapsed around us! I was so embarrassed I thought I'd die!" Happy protested in mumble but Lucy wasn't about to let his mouth run off quite yet.

Wendy tried to keep a straight face through the whole account but she could not help herself and burst out laughing so hard that she started to tear up. She started to get herself back under control and wiped her eyes with her arm. "I'm sorry Lucy," she had to stop talking to sniff back some fluids before they ran out her nose, "but you all had fun right! You always get along so well together. I want to have the same kind of times that you guys have together."

Lucy smiled at Wendy and at long last allowed Happy to breathe again. "Don't worry; I'm sure we'll have plenty of good times together in the future since you're a full-fledged member of Fairy Tail like us! At least the audience liked us that time, but then we had to perform that same play so many times over…ugh!"

Wendy grinned and moved around on her stool to face the counter more when she saw Mirajane walk over to them.

"You all did a fantastic job Lucy, I was glad I was able to see it that day. Everyone who was able to watch were so happy to see you guys act." Mirajane beamed at them and Lucy's face darkened and bowed down a bit, but she managed to raise it back up with a rather pained smile on her face.

"Ha ha ha, well thank you Mirajane, but really all we did was create one big mess."

"Oh Ho! Don't be so modest, Lucy! Your performance was wonderful!" All three girls turned down to look at Master Makalov and Lucy's face became a mask of horror. "Actually I thought everyone's performance was marvelous! Especially Erza's, when she went to save you Lucy and cut off-"

Before he could spill the fermented beans Lucy managed to cut him off by yelling "MASTER!"

"You were quite spectacular Lucy." Makalov winked and Lucy reddened and her whole body sagged as the Fairy Tail guild master walked away with his inner thoughts, though the smile and slight reddening in his cheeks gave him away to what he was remembering.

"_That's it…I'll never be able to get a boyfriend now." _Lucy's soul tried to leave her body but unfortunately failed in her opinion. Lucy managed to come back to reality when she heard a sudden gasp from Happy. Wendy and Lucy looked over at the suddenly trembling Happy.

"Happy is something the matter?" Wendy asked with concern for the blue cat.

"Yes, are you all right?" Charle also asked not sure what to think of what the 'male cat' was doing.

"Charle…I just realized something so horrible that I don't think even if a fish the size of a whale suddenly fell from the sky on top of me so I could eat it I don't think I could shake off this dread I'm feeling."

"_If a fish that size fell on you Happy I don't think you'd be feeling anything at all"_ Lucy could not help but think in her head.

"Well, what is it, Happy?" Wendy looked troubled as Happy continued to shake fiercely.

"What if, what if," Happy's tightly closed eyes started to overflow with a stream of tears and then he snapped his eyes open, "Natsu is having a large barbecue and is eating mountains of crabs, and fish, and meat, and fish without me! He could have left me behind just so that he would get all the food to himself!"

As Happy bawled on, Lucy sighed, Wendy did not seem to know what to think, and Charle merely shook her head at the male cat's antics.

"Seriously, is food all you and Natsu can think of? Sometimes I find myself feeling sorry that there exists an Exceed like you and a Dragon Slayer like Natsu. Wendy, for being so much younger, is ten times more mature than both of you." Charle turned her back on Happy and crossed her arms.

"But Charlie, surely you can sympathize with me?" Happy implored to Charle's back but got no response from her.

Wendy couldn't help but smile at her two cat friends. She really felt blessed to have made so many great friends, and Wendy thought that she couldn't be happier then she was right now. She did admit though, that she wanted to see Gray, Erza, and Natsu again soon, and she had to wonder how they were doing on their missions. "Hey Lucy?"

"What is it Wendy?"

"Do you have any more stories?" Wendy asked, wanting to hear more about their amazing adventures.

Lucy could only smile and comply by telling Wendy of yet another adventure the four of them had gone on.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

On the northern border of the country of Fiore in the mountains, Erza was engaged in fierce combat with a beast about the size of the small mansion. Erza was currently fighting in her normal Heart Kreuz Armor against a beast that could have easily passed as Deliora's cousin. Man shaped with a little Gorilla in it, but with the face of a demon who preferred its horns to be big and curly, it snarled at the young woman who dared to try and defeat it. Erza glared back at the monstrosity with stony eyes that showed complete trust in her own ability to defeat the beast before her. Quickly realizing that this was an opponent it could not intimidate, the monster struck with one of its large, hairy arms and clods of earth shot up around the fist as it created carriage-sized crater where Erza had been but a second before.

Before the monster could react Erza had already charged up the monster's arm, by jumping on it just a moment before impact, and slashed at the monster's face. The monster didn't even flinch and a moment before her sword could make contact magically the beast's left horn maneuvered itself in her way and blocked it. Horn and sword clashed together with a sound akin to metal upon metal and Erza stood face-to-face with the creature.

"Oh, you seem to have an interesting ability there." Erza commented right before she had to jump down to avoid the monster's other hand that was trying to smash her while she was on its shoulder. Not one to miss an opportunity, she made sure on her way to the ground to make a long gash in the creature's body with her sword which made the creature roar with rage and step away from her before she could travel the whole length of its body. She landed on the ground gracefully and readied herself for the monster's next attack when she noticed that the wound she had given to the monster's side was already starting to heal up. "I see. It is no wonder you've been able to cause so much destruction even though you've already fought at least two groups of mages. While your magical horns are certainly a benefit to your power, it's your regenerative abilities that have allowed you to survive for so long and keep rampaging unchecked."

Of course the creature had no idea what she was saying and was angry at this small human that had managed to wound it even though the wound closed up right away. The monster bellowed at Erza and a fierce wind blew from its mouth by the force of its roar which moved Erza's earrings, hair, and skirt, but the Titania of Fairy Tail stood her ground with a determined look on her face. "It has become clear that I can no longer go easy on you." Erza activated her requip magic and at first the monster looked very confused when she suddenly become naked before her new armor formed over her body. Then Erza stood before the monster clad in her Heaven's Wheel Armor. The armor was almost completely silver with a white skirt and blackish-blue skirt armor. Her mid-riff was exposed and her top armor consisted of only an armor bikini, yet her arms and legs were fully armored and she wielded two large blades. The most interesting part of her armor was the beautiful, silver, blade-like wings that spread out like a seraphim's from her back. A circle of swords appeared all around her and almost looked as if they were extensions, or silver light rays coming out from her wings. The overall effect was dazzling and as beautiful as if a battle maiden from the heavens had descended to earth to visit a battlefield full of warriors, but this Valkyrie was here only to bring down a monster and that would be the only soul she would be sending to heaven.

The creature was only dazzled for a brief moment before it decided to pounce, extending its body into a full leap, soon Erza was enveloped in the monster's shadow as it tried to crush her with its body and pierce her with its horns. Erza crouched down and readied her blades and waited as the monster came closer, then she opened her eyes wide and with a burst of incredible power and speed from her legs shot up to meet the descending behemoth. "Tenrin Blumenblatt!" All of Erza's swords struck out against the creature while the creature's horns did battle with some of her hovering blades and nearly struck her as the two combatants passed each other by. They bother landed on the ground facing away for each other, and then the wounds from Erza's blades opened all over the monster's body and it fell down onto its hands and breathed heavily from the massive damage Erza's attack had inflicted. Erza turned around to face the creature, and she could see that despite its multiple and deep wounds it was already starting to heal. She had not been able to inflict enough damage to kill it and soon it would be back to full strength again. The creature turned its bloodied face toward her and she could the last of her slash marks fade.

"You really are quite persistent." Erza stated bluntly as she sized up the creature once again and turned her head slightly when she heard a cracking noise coming from her left. Her wing tip had been damaged and there were cracks in the design; the creature had to have incredible power to have done even that amount of damage by only grazing her armor. She had to find a way to destroy the creature quickly or the battle would last on forever, and eventually she would lose enough stamina to get hit by one of the monster's attacks. It wouldn't happen for a while but in an indefinite fight the outcome would be clear.

Erza was about to exequip her armor when she heard a voice coming from some nearby high grounds which was really nothing more than a bunch of rocks piled up on top of each other. They were located near the top of a mountain so the pile of rock was really the only place higher then where they already were at the moment and there were also no trees near the top so the rock pile looked very conspicuous compared to the rest of the mountain top which thankfully had no snow at the moment. "Hey do you need any help!" The rather loud and spirited, yet melodious voice came from brown-haired girl with very clear eyes.

The girl was perhaps a little shorter than Erza but her spunk sure made up for that. Her hair was tied into a extended, fan shape at the back of her head with a red ribbon and was quite spiky, although the rest of her head looked quite smooth and flat and she had a longer lock of hair in the front the fell to the right side of her face. Her clothes consisted of a pair of tan shorts that looked like they had an intimate relationship with the earth, brown hiking boots, a white collared shirt that had the top button missing so her neck was exposed, and a light brown vest that looked like she never buttoned it up and preferred to just let it hang loosely on her body. Also on her person were two identical light blue bracelets with white rims on each of her wrists and she was carrying a small knapsack with her, filled with the few belongings she had brought with her. She wore two light blue fingerless gloves that ended about half-way between her first finger joints and her knuckles.

As for her figure, she looked very lean and fit but with enough muscle to show instantly that she probably trained her body quite frequently. Her proportions were fairly average, not overly generous in any area but certainly not dismal either; there were definitely some curves to her body but perhaps in a more minimalist kind of way. Her skin was lightly tanned so it shone with a healthy glow, though perhaps her cheeks were at least a little sunburned, but otherwise she was fine. What really defined her were her eyes, and a smile that reminded Erza slightly of Natsu with that goofy grin he'd sometimes sport after a particularly grueling fight or that he used to encourage someone. Her clear eyes were large, but with a sharp quality to them so they looked purposeful yet friendly and her smile was bright and large, as if nothing in the world could bring her down.

Both Erza and the monster were unsure of what to make of the new girl that had just shown up, giving them a temporary pause to their combat. "I thank you for your offer but your help will not be necessary." Erza looked at her a second more before returning her gaze to the monster; it would probably be best if only she had to fight, or the girl could get seriously hurt if she attempted to help. She was about to exequip but then heard the newcomer start to run down toward them. "I thought I told you I did not need any help!" Erza tried to dissuade her but she just kept on coming with a rather calm smile on her face as if she knew exactly what she was doing.

"You did," the girl replied back as she got between the monster and Erza, readying her gloved fists for combat, "but I never said that I wouldn't help you so there's no use arguing with me." Erza could see from the girl's stance that she was completely serious and that there would be no point trying to persuade her to turn away from the fight. Erza gave a little sigh and then changed into her Black Wing Armor so that she would be able to give one powerful, decisive blow to the monster to kill it in one go.

"All right then, just keep it occupied until I get a clear shot so I can take out the demon in one blow. Can you do that for me?" Erza asked. She could see that the girl was getting quite ready for a battle by the way her feet were shifting ever so slightly under her; she was definitely no amateur but Erza was uncertain how she expected to fight the creature with no apparent weapon in her hands.

"Oh I'll do more than just distract him! Just you watch me!" With that exclamation, the girl shot forward toward the beast who had been watching her intently from the moment she first appeared. The creature almost looked insulted as it bellowed its battle cry at the approaching figure and shot at her with one of its magical horns that stretched itself out toward her to try and impale her on its point. Erza watched dumbfounded as she continued her reckless charge, not even bothering to steer clear of the approaching deadly tip of the creature's horn. It was what came next that was even a greater surprise to her though.

As the two got close enough the girl brought back her right arm and then shot her clenched fist toward the approaching horn and shouted, "Fist of the sound dragon!" Once the two forces collided the most horrific sonic boom exploded from the impact and a visible ring of compressed sound erupted from the girl's fist. For a brief half-second it seemed as if nothing had happened, and then the creature's horn suddenly fractured into a million little pieces that were soon scattered all over the ground. That horn which Erza had not even been able to put a scratch on with her swords now lay scattered all over the ground, decimated by a single punch. The girl was most definitely a dragon slayer, though she had to admit she doubted even Natsu could have been able to shatter that horn, much less in one blow. The destructive power seemed to be too great to be real, so there was probably some kid of trick to her attack that had allowed to obliterate the monster's horn in one go.

The monster was completely furious at having one of its precious horns destroyed and lashed out at the girl with its foot. The girl didn't have time to dodge and could only to protect herself with her arms as a hoofed foot smashed into her and sent her flying. Erza could see that the girl was hurt and that she was wincing, yet the girl, even as she was flying in the air, launched another attack at the creature, "Screech of the sound dragon!" She opened her mouth wide and shrieked at the behemoth, compressed sound waves buffeted the monster and it clamped its monstrous hands over its ears to try and block the oppressive noise. Erza found herself wincing a bit from the scream even though she wasn't in the sound wave's magical blast radius. The creature fell to its knees as the girl fell down to earth and bounced around on the ground for a bit before coming to a painful halt. Once the monster uncovered its ears Erza could see blood running from the creature's eardrums and down the sides of its face. Its face looked pained and slightly puzzled as it tried to get its bearings. Erza quickly realized that the girl had just effectively deafened the monster, though she doubted it would be for long with the creature's abnormal regeneration rate.

Taking her chance Erza leapt toward the creature's heart, taking advantage of the fact it couldn't hear her and its reflexes would be slowed down as a result. Yelling out loud, Erza struck the creature full in the chest with one powerful swing and felt the blade slide through easily and puncture the creature's heart and perhaps a lung as well. The creature tried to retaliate with its remaining horn but was too slow and Erza was able to quickly make her escape. The creature tottered around unsteadily on its legs for a few moments, and then collapsed on the ground dead. Erza noted with some interest that the horn that had been shattered by the dragon slayer's power had no sign of regenerating, which meant that either the monster's regenerative power had no influence over its horn growth or that the girl's attack had somehow prevented it from being able to grow out again. Erza returned to her normal armor and walked over to the creature and cut off its other horn which without the magical power of the beast had become soft enough for her sword to slice through. She decided she would take the horn as proof that she had accomplished her mission.

"Ha ha I guess I overestimated myself a little back there! I didn't expect him to have such a powerful kick, ouch." The girl walked over to Erza while rubbing her arms a little. Despite having been 'hoofed' by the monster the girl really only had a lot of bruises all over her body and her clothes looked even dirtier than before, her white shirt even had a hole in it on her mid-section, but overall she looked fine. Like other dragon slayers Erza had encountered, she was pretty tough.

"Well thank you for giving me the opportunity I needed to slay the beast. I must say that was quite amazing when you shattered the creature's horn; my swords could not even scratch the surface while it was still alive."

"Well actually it's really not as amazing as you think; really all I did was match the sound frequency to resonate with the horn, causing a compounding amplification of vibrations which is what was able to shatter it. It works really well as long as the object I'm trying to destroy is all made of the same material so the resonate vibrations effect is better." The girl then stretched her arms and her legs to see how the painful it was.

"Well it was still impressive to witness." Erza lifted the giant horn, which thankfully had shrunk in size after all the magic had left it, onto her left shoulder and held her right hand out to shake the girl's hand. "I am Erza Scarlet; it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

The girl looked at Erza's extended hand for a brief moment, smiled broadly and shook her hand with her own. "Oh that's right, I appeared on the scene without introducing myself, sorry about that. I'm Lorette Nolani; it's a pleasure to meet you Erza!" Their hands stopped shaking but Lorette did not let go of Erza's hand and her eyes grew visibly wider as she realized just who it was she was holding hands with. "You mean you're Erza the Titania from Fairy Tail!" Surprise was very evident in her voice and she even looked even a little scared.

Erza merely nodded and then it suddenly registered in Lorette's brain that she had not let go of Erza's hand. Quickly she did so and with her other hand started scratching the back of her head, which ruffled her hair. She looked rather embarrassed, "Oh, sorry for butting in on your fight back there, I didn't mean to interfere or anything but I guess I kinda did huh?" Her eyes closed in embarrassment and her cheeks flushed ever so slightly.

"Do not worry about that. I was glad for your assistance. By the way," Erza looked over Lorette again really quickly, "you had a knapsack with you if I remember correctly. Where did you leave it?"

"Oh I left that over on those rocks I dramatically appeared from; they should be right th-." Lorette's words caught in her throat and she sounded like she was going to choke as she realized where she was pointing. She was currently pointing at the gigantic monster's body and under it was the wreckage of the rock formation she had been on only a few minutes before. When the large creature had been tottering around for its final few seconds of life they had not noticed before, but it had stumbled over to the rock formation and collapsed on it, crushing it under its weight, which caused the rocks move out from under each other, which made the whole formation collapse.

"Ah…" Lorette was silent for a moment as the reality sank in. "My stuff! It's all been crushed!" Frantically she started to search for her knapsack hoping beyond hope that it was somehow all right.

"I'm sorry," Erza clenched her teeth and looked away, "if I had been more careful I could have preventing your belongings from getting damaged. You can hit me if it will make you feel better!"

"Um, no, it's all right really." Lorette did not even want to think of what might happen to her if she actually hit the legendary Titania; the images that came to her mind were quite gruesome. "Well it would help if you looked for my knapsack with me."

"All right, if that is what you want. Just let me know when you need to relieve some stress and I will gladly take any punishment you give me." Erza quickly went over to the wreckage to help with the search.

"Really it's quite all right." Lorette quickly came to a conclusion as she watched Erza come over to help her and that conclusion was, _"This woman is scary, no wonder she's the famous Titania. I hope I never get on her bad side!"_

The two women searched through the rubble for Lorette's knapsack and Erza could not help but notice that Lorette seemed a little on edge. _"She must have something very important in that knapsack,"_ she thought, not realizing that it was herself that had put the girl on edge.

"Do not worry; we will be sure to find it!" Erza smiled confidently in Lorette's direction and she could only smile back with a bit of a distressed smile, hoping that nothing bad would happen in the future.

**Author's Note: Well that's the first chapter. I'm hoping to make this an ongoing story so any reviews you can give me is great. Well Loretta is my OC character just so you know so don't take her :). Now I know that there are people who really hate OCs and have seen them destroy what could have been good stories so I hope I can get rid of those fears as my story progresses. Anyway, hope you enjoyed the first chapter.**

**LoL, just watched the latest Fairy Tail episode and decided I just needed to change one small part in the first section of the chapter to make it match with the Anime version, doesn't really matter but might as well since you guys are probably watching it as well.**

**Also look at my other stories if you want. See ya later!**


	2. The Dragon's Encounter

Chapter 2 – The Dragon's Encounter

Makarov lounged about Fairy Tail's main hall in content. For once everything seemed just right, there were no fights, everyone seemed happy and the general atmosphere was just serene. While he did not mind the other more uproarious aspects as well it was a nice change of pace and at least he did not have to fix up the place and waste his time and money on that. The only thing that was being destroyed at the moment was the bar's alcohol supply; Kana, as usual, was contently gulping down as though her body needed to replenish itself of beer rather than water.

"Ah I love peaceful days like this", Makarov said in contentment as he thought about the latest bit of news he had received recently. It had been a report that Natsu had completed his mission and there had been hardly any extra damage at all! As far as he was concerned it was a first for Natsu and the thought of Natsu having an actual contained battle pleased him greatly. "If things can continue going on like this then maybe I'll be able to get the council off my back for a while."

"Hey Ouji-san! I'm back!" Through the front doors of the hall came in the pink-haired Salamander, Natsu Dragneel. His usual grin of exuberance stretched across his face as he stepped into the hall.

"Natsu!" Came the excited shouts of Lucy and Wendy who had been talking to each other. Natsu waved to them, "Hey there Lucy! Wendy!" and then continued on his way toward Makarov who was sitting Indian-style up on a table.

"Natsu, I'm glad to see you back. I heard your mission was quite the success."

"Ya, it was a piece of cake!" Natsu laughed and put his hand on his hips.

"You mean a piece of fish don't you Natsu!" Happy exclaimed as he flew over to Natsu.

"Oh hey there Gramps!" Natsu and Happy quickly gave each other a high-five and then Happy contented himself with just floating around. "A piece of fish huh? I think I'd prefer a piece of meat though." It took Natsu a second to get back on track as he thought about meat, "Those guys were hardly worth the trouble. I barely even got a good work out!" Natsu rolled his right arm around to emphasize that he had plenty of energy to spare. "Oh that reminds me Gramps," Natsu reached into one of his pockets and produced a folded piece of paper that he handed to Makarov, who quickly took it and read the contents, "some guys at this restaurant I stopped at wanted me to give this to you." Makarov's face formed into the perfect picture of a man who realized too late he was in a toilet stall with no toilet paper.

"B-b-but I heard there hadn't been much property damage on your mission!" Makarov stared at the big numbers that were printed in bold with an open jaw.

"Well like I said Gramps those guys didn't even give me a good warm-up, but then I stopped by at this restaurant to have some meat but then some guy landed on my table and ruined everything and I couldn't let him get away with it so I taught him and some other guys that ganged up on me a good lesson! Don't worry Gramps I'm sure they'll remember it for a long time!" Makarov had to concentrate to not rip up the notice in his hands.

"_That's what I'm worried about Natsu, or rather that the council will remember it. Oh gods, and I thought I wouldn't have to worry about property damage for once!"_ Makarov felt his eyes start to mist up.

"Hey Gramps! Are you crying! Gah!" Natsu was sent flying from one of Makarov's suddenly large fists.

Lucy sighed at Natsu's stupidity and Wendy winced when Natsu crashed into the front doors and nearly wrenched them off their hinges; thankfully, both the doors and Natsu were very tough.

"Oy! Gramps what was that for!" Natsu raged for a second then a thought popped into his head, "So does that mean you actually want to fight me? I've been waiting for a time when you would want to fight with me!" Natsu flared up with his hands with fire and charged across the hall toward Makarov. Makarov gave a rather hopeless look toward Natsu, and squashed him like an ant with his hand.

"That was so lame, Natsu!" Lucy laughed at Natsu's smashed figure who for a second glared at her, then burst into his signature grin, leapt up off the ground and wiped his clothes off.

"Ya well it won't be too much longer when I'll be able to fight gramps with my power! You just wait and see!"

"Hmmm, yes, it is good for a man to have high dreams and to strive for them with all his strength. Become a man with your fist!" Elfman nodded toward Natsu with respect while most of the other guild members just laughed.

Wendy gazed at Natsu, admiring his strength and positive attitude about the situation that seemed to just radiate from every cell in his body. Natsu seemed to always be bursting at the seams with and overpowering strength that filled everyone else with the same confidence. "Well do your best Natsu!"

Natsu turned to look at Wendy, noticing her happy face as she encouraged him. Natsu grinned back and gave a thumbs-up. "Well of course, we're members of Fairy Tail so we always give everything our all!"

The guild hall filled with cheers and laughs, giving praise to Fairy Tail and then everyone one returned to what they were doing as if nothing had happened. It was at that point that Gray burst into the guild hall.

"Yo Gray! Been taking your sweet time in getting here I see!" Natsu teased the ice wizard as he walked in.

"Oh really?" Gray smirked and tread his way up to Natsu until they were just a foot apart and then pointed to himself with his thumb. "My job was obviously harder than yours Natsu, so it was actually you who took their sweet time in returning from their job since I know you just barely got here ahead of me."

"Oh really?" Natsu imitated Gray's stance which made it look like two statues were having a grudge match with each other. "I definitely did a better job than you droopy eyes!"

Gray leaned in closer to Natsu, "Ya right sharp eyes! My job was definitely tougher and I did it more efficiently than you ever could."

Natsu also leaned in closer as he argued right back, "As if Gray! My job was definitely the tougher one and I completed my job more thoroughly than you ever could!"

As the two argued back and forth, their faces kept getting closer and closer together, until they were actually rubbing cheeks against each other and it quickly turned into a face pushing match with animated arguing involved. Lucy did not even bother looking at them anymore as she knew they would just fight until they had expended all of their energy fighting each other. Wendy, who had not been around them long enough yet to know that they were always like that, was starting to get a little worried. Lucy noticed Wendy's disturbed face and quickly tried to set her at ease. "Ah, don't worry about them Wendy, this is what they usually do when they see each other." _Although usually Erza is here to stop them so I don't know how far those two will go_. She added in her head as fire and ice tried to overtake each other. As was usual in their fights, neither of them was giving an inch to the other.

The two suddenly started to grapple with each other right when the doors to the hall swung open and there stood Erza Scarlet, looking as regal and in control of the situation as ever.

"Erza!" Lucy exclaimed partially as a greeting and partially as a warning to the two enraged, grappling wizards who instantly froze and slowly turned their heads toward the door in unison. The ice wizard and the dragon slayer put on their biggest smiles, which were the most ridiculous and fake smiles you could imagine. Their faces looked like masks of comedy, and the way they were holding hands while still in a grappling position made them look like the perfect figures to use in a large garden with a fountain shooting up water behind them. Erza smiled and nodded her head in approval, "It is good to see you two getting along so well together." Somehow she managed to delude himself into thinking they were in that position as a sign of friendship rather than a fight that had just been put on deep freeze.

Wendy was amazed, and maybe even a little scared, by the sudden change in Gray and Natsu's attitudes. "Erza really is amazing."

Lucy had to agree but in more fearful terms than Wendy was thinking about at the moment. "Yes she is." She lightly laughed. The laugh was a little shaky. Then Lucy noticed someone coming into the hall alongside Erza with brown hair and little a little bit disheveled. "Oh Erza, who is that with you?"

"This," Erza began and placed an armored gauntlet on the girl's shoulder, "is Loretta. We met while we were on our last mission and she suffered some loss because of me, so I decided I'd try to make up by allowing her to stay here for a bit until she can replace what was lost, because of me." Erza looked pained as she said that and Loretta gave and uneasy smile toward Lucy who understood her plight completely.

Loretta soon recovered herself and took Erza's hand off her shoulder and stepped forward with enthusiasm and gave a short wave to the guild. "My name's Loretta Nolani! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance." She started to extend a hand out toward Gray and Natsu but her hand froze mid-way and her right eyebrow started twitching along with the corner of her mouth.

Gray and Natsu, still in their statuesque, position stared blankly at her and puzzlement could be seen in their faces. The confusion was quickly remedied when Kana blurted out from behind a keg of beer she was drinking out of, "Gray! Your clothes!"

Gray looked down in shock to see himself somehow down to his underwear and Natsu very quickly disengaged himself from Gray and jumped a good three feet away. "What the heck Gray! Why did you choose now to take off your clothes you moron!" Natsu yelled from his position away from Gray.

"When did my clothes?" Was all Gray could say until someone threw his pants onto his head from somewhere. Gray quickly put on his pants and gave an apologetic cough into one of his fists. "Sorry about that, I'm Gray Fullbuster by the way." Gray held out a hand for Loretta when Lucy smacked Gray in the head from behind. "What was that for Lucy!"

"Don't just suddenly get friendly after being nearly naked in front of a girl!"

"What are you talking about Lucy, when was I ever naked?" Gray protested and rubbed the back of his head.

"Man that was disgusting Gray!" Natsu said, coming in for good measure.

"Shut up Natsu! How was I supposed to know my pants would disappear huh!" Gray spat back and the two were about to fight again when Erza's presence suddenly loomed over them and the two quickly cowered back.

"_You really should learn to keep better track of your clothes Gray_." Lucy thought as she watched the two cower before Erza like scared rabbits trapped in a burrow of their own making. "Sorry about that Loretta," Lucy apologized sheepishly to the girl who thankfully had already recovered from the initial shock, "they just tend to be a little unique I guess you could say," she said trying to put it as light as possible.

Loretta just laughed and waved one of her arms as if shooing away a fly. "Na, it's ok. Actually I grew up with several brothers so I'm used to that sort of thing it was just the part where he had his pants off and they were stuck in that weird pose. Kind of gave off a scary vibe if you know what I mean. At least everyone seems interesting, I think I like this place already!" Loretta stretched out as if she was in her own home.

"You're pretty amazing to be able to just accept everything so quickly." Lucy responded, and a tiny bit of respect could be heard in her voice.

"Ha ha ha. Well ya I suppose so, sometimes you just got to go with the flow after all!"

"_So you admit you're amazing?_" Lucy could not help but think in her mind and quickly realized Loretta was probably a little eccentric, but around Fairy Tail that was fairly normal.

Loretta took some time to look all around the guild hall to see what the place was like. It definitely looked she had ended up in a nice place. She was not quite sure how long she would be able to stay but eventually she would have to leave to continue her search for Silvaria, the dragon of sound. Well until that time came she was going to enjoy herself a bit. She glanced back over to where Erza had been lecturing Natsu and Gray and noticed that they were now free from Erza's strong gaze. Natsu grinned over to her and Gray just looked rather impassively at her; they really had the characteristics of their respective elements though she admitted she was not quite sure where running around nearly naked fit into being icy.

Now that everything had been settled she decided to go over to the two to have some proper introductions with them. "Well as you already heard I'm Loretta Nolani so you two would be Gray Fullbuster and Natsu Dragneel, the Salamander!"

"Yep that's us!" Natsu shook a bit wildly while Gray's handshake was a bit more regular, but still firm.

"Say Natsu? You're a dragon slayer right? Can you tell me what happened to the dragon that raised you?" Loretta asked the pink haired fire dragon slayer.

Natsu did not speak for a second but then he responded to her question, "Ya, Igneel, the dragon who raised me just disappeared about seven years ago on July 7. I've looked for him everywhere but I have yet to even get a clue on where he might have gone."

Loretta absorbed the information and reflected on it, "So Silvaria the sound dragon disappeared the same time Igneel did."

"As did Metalicana and Grandine…wait! So you're a Dragon Slayer too Loretta?"

"Yep!" Loretta replied quickly to Natsu sudden question.

"Awesome! That means we have four Dragon Slayers here in Fairy Tail! You, me, Gajeel, and Wendy!"

"Four Dragon Slayers right here? And all the dragons disappeared on the same day too. So where are the other two?" Loretta found herself eager to meet the other Dragon Slayers, she had heard of Natsu before but the other two she had no idea of and being able to meet other Dragon Slayers like herself was an exciting prospect. _"Fairy Tail is a really amazing guild to already have three Dragon Slayers in it,"_ she could not help but think since Dragon Slayers were very rare; certainly not very many dragons ever taught people how to become Dragon Slayers.

"Well I think Gajeel went out on a mission and hasn't come back yet but Wendy is right here!" Natsu strode over to a surprised Wendy and put a hand on her shoulder. She was not expecting to be pointed out or for Natsu to suddenly come over to her so she started to fidget a little bit and tried to be polite by keeping eye contact with Loretta.

Quickly Wendy gave a short bow toward Loretta. "Pleased to meet you, I-I'm Wendy Marvell. Pleased to meet you Loretta-san."

"So you're a Dragon Slayer as well huh? Happy to meet you Wendy!" Loretta got down on her knees on a whim and gave Wendy a quick hug. "Nice to meet a fellow girl Dragon Slayer." Loretta winked at Wendy who was a little taken aback by her spontaneity but soon found herself getting taken along with Loretta's exuberant attitude and gave a happy nod to back to her. Loretta then got back on her feet, "I'll make sure to talk with you sometime later. So Erza, where are my accommodations going to be? Your place?"

Erza thought for a brief moment and then nodded, "Yes, I should be able to make a place for you to sleep while you stay here. It was my responsibility for what happened anyway so I'll be the one to give you lodging for now. I live in the Fairy Hills dorm behind the guild; I'll show it to you once you decide to settle in."

"Sounds good Erza! Let's go over after I finish introducing myself to everyone here." Loretta quickly jetted around to the various people in the guild giving them greetings.

"Well she seems pretty nice." Lucy commented as they watched Loretta start introducing herself to Makarov.

"She is also quite strong, maybe even on par with you Natsu," Erza said, remembering the battle with the monster and how she had met Loretta.

"I'm just glad I was able to meet another Dragon Slayer! Come to think of it, what was she a Dragon Slayer of?" Natsu asked while trying to remember if she had said anything about her powers.

Erza quickly answered him, "If I remember correctly she is the Dragon Slayer of Sound."

"Of sound huh? So then she would eat like…music and stuff?" Natsu and everyone else started thinking of how Loretta would be able to eat sound, except for maybe Happy who was only thinking of fish.

"I know this may sound rude," Charle spoke up interrupting the party's thoughts on Loretta, "but would it not be best for us to at least keep an eye on her for now? After all we have just met her and we've even let her into the guild hall already."

"Charle! Why do you have to be like this all the time?" Wendy protested after hearing her cat companion speak.

"I'm just saying we should be cautious that's all. While I doubt there is any cause for concern I just worry that sometimes you are too trusting. Just because she is a Dragon Slayer does not instantly make her a friend."

Wendy found she could not argue with Charle's logic. "Well I know, but she seemed kind enough…"

"Ah don't worry about it!" Natsu interjected himself between Charle and Wendy and put his arms around the two. "Let's just enjoy the time we have together and get to know her better!"

"Natsu-san." Wendy instantly felt better though Charle looked a little pained at having suddenly been grabbed from the pink-haired Dragon Slayer. It did not help her mood that Happy was right next to them as this happened and said his usual 'aye!'.

"Well I suppose I better escort her to the dorm now," Erza stated plainly, "I'll see you all later then." The stately Titania walked away from the group toward Loretta and waved back to them. "Well are you ready to go yet?" Erza asked once she reached Loretta who was talking a few mages at one of the tables.

"Oh, ya I'm ready. It will be interesting to see where you live Erza!" Loretta said some quick farewells to the mages and hopped over to follow Erza.

* * *

Loretta had been right, it was certainly interesting to look at Erza's room for the first time; it was actually five rooms all put together by pretty much removing the walls separating the rooms and lining them all up. Looking down, it was almost like a museum hallway of various exotic and normal to practical and impractical armors and various weapons. In fact it almost looked like a trophy collection of all enemies she had fought and humiliated by taking their prized armors and weapons; Erza certainly had the ability to do that though if that were the case she doubted the armors would be so intact and shiny.

"You've got a really interesting place here!" Loretta bounded from armor to armor, seeing how the various curves of the armors reflected her face back to her; there were definitely some interesting results.

"Since my storage space is limited I keep all my extra things here. There may not be too much room so forgive me if you do not find the room to your liking."

"Oh no! Not at all! It will do just fine! Besides, with all this stuff I think your place looks rather cool. It kind of looks like wherever I plant myself, although more organized." Loretta grinned at her own joke and made a face in a random breastplate by stretching her mouth with her hands and rolling her eyes. After she was done making facing she soon came face to face with 'it'.

'It' was something that did not belong in the hall of implements of destruction and defense, it also had something which no other outfit or armor in the room had on, and that was frills, and a swan head. Needless to say, it was one of the scariest items of clothing Loretta had ever seen. "Erza, I must say I'm rather afraid to ask what this is." The swan head that came from 'it' stared back at her and Loretta tried desperately not to shy away from its gaze. She failed.

"Oh that, I never use it, it is just that it was a present from Natsu so I never got around to getting rid of it. You can have it if you like." Erza said as she was preparing a place for Loretta to sleep.

"Oh that's quite alright; I wouldn't take a present that given to someone else." Loretta replied cheerily, but on the inside she had several thoughts going. One was that it was one of the weirdest and scariest things ever, two was why in the world did Erza allow that to be on display, and three was what in the world had Natsu been thinking when she had given that to her! Surely he could have given her anything other than that!

Very quickly a bare spot with a mat had been prepared as a sleeping area for Loretta and after a little more talking and bedtime preparation the two female mages bid goodnight to each other and went to bed.

It took a while for Loretta to get to sleep though because back in her mind she knew that out of sight, in Erza's dorm room was that strange thing, staring out from somewhere in the darkness. It took a few hours for her to finally drift off to sleep and the last thing she thought was, _Well I'm kinda glad I'm able to stay here for a while, I'm sure there will be interesting things in the future for me to see._

_**Author's Note: So not too much going on in this chapter I'm afraid but hopefully I'll be able to start writing more soon. Well hope you enjoyed it, probably be awhile before the next chapter is up just to warn you.**_


	3. A Dragon, a Fairy, and a Knight

Chapter 3 - Put a Dragon, a Fairy, and a Knight Together and you get…

It had indeed been an interesting morning for Loretta and was soon becoming an interesting afternoon. When Loretta had woken up that morning she was very glad the first thing she saw was a rather revealing, but probably magical, piece of armor; of course this was only because the horror of that 'thing' was still fresh in her mind. Erza was already up and about by the time Loretta had woken up so she had found herself in the midst of Erza's abandoned but quite decorated room. Of course none of this was the interesting part of the morning, the interesting part had happened when she went into the main hall of the guild to the hustle and general calamity that was Fairy Tail. That morning was the first time she saw the third dragon slayer in the guild, Gajeel.

Gajeel looked like quite the tough character, with his metallic appearance, multiple piercings, and general look of fierce anger; needless to say Loretta found herself interested right away so she instantly went up to greet him. "So you have to be Gajeel the metal dragon slayer right? My name's Loretta the number one dragon slayer!" Overconfidence overflowed from her person as she announced herself to the iron dragon slayer.

Gajeel stared at her like she was insane, "You're the visiting dragon slayer I've been hearing about then huh? You sure don't look like much, number one my fist." Before her eyes Gajeel's hand turned into a pillar of iron that could easily smash away lesser mages like flies before him. "Of course if you want to prove it," a rather evil looking smirk went across his face and a hard glint could be seen in his eyes, "I'd be more than happy to prove you wrong."

Loretta was about to give some smart remark back when a very loud and angry sounding Natsu practically screamed out in rage from the message board. "I won't forgive them! Happy! We are definitely taking this mission and we will beat up the ones responsible for this!"

Even the usually carefree Happy had a nasty look on his face and shouted out, "Aye sir!" Quite a few people turned their heads to look when they heard Happy get so upset, which was a lot less common then Natsu's frequent outbursts. With Natsu it was fairly hard to gauge if something was really important enough to get upset about since he tended to have strong feelings about anything. With him it could be that some despicable act had boiled up his blood or that he was upset that his favorite meal was no longer on the menu. With Happy though, as long as you could rule out anything that had to do with fish, it was quite possible it was something worth looking into. Even Gajeel lost interest in trying to pick a fight with Loretta and glanced over at the raging Natsu and Happy. Thankfully someone had the wonderful sense to put an anti-magic coating on the mission papers so that someone like Natsu would not burn it to a crisp just by getting upset. It really did save a lot of time and money.

"What is it that has you all riled up Natsu?" Marco, one of the older members of the guild, asked with curiosity flavoring his question.

"Someone has been specifically targeting Mages, making them lose the will to use their magic ever again! There is even a member of Fairy Tail on the list of victims!" Natsu crumpled the paper in his flaming hand; thankfully the magic coating was still working so it was only getting wrinkled and not burned. "They will pay for touching Fairy Tail!" Mission in hand Natsu dashed for the door but before he could make it, Erza suddenly stood before him arms crossed and piercing eyes staring Natsu down. Natsu stopped only two feet from Erza and glared at her, eyes blazed with fierce intensity. "Don't try to talk me out of this Erza, I know it's an S-class mission but nothing is going to stop me from taking them out!"

Erza stood her ground against Natsu and it looked like a force of wills was about to clash between the molten hot Natsu and the steely cool Erza. Surprisingly, Erza closed her eyes for a few seconds, "I would not dream of stopping you Natsu." At this the fire went out of Natsu and he was generally confused which was quite evident on his face; after all since when had Erza ever backed down from anyone? Erza opened her eyes and a fierce passion could be seen in those stately orbs, a slight smile formed on her lips and before Natsu could react she spoke. "I feel just as strongly as you do about this Natsu. There is no way as members of Fairy Tail we can let such behavior slip by! There is absolutely no way I'm going to let you be the only one to give them a lesson they won't forget!"

Natsu grinned back at Erza as she held out her armored hand, which Natsu quickly took in a firm grasp, which Erza returned in kind. Seeing the great Titania and the famous Salamander look so fired up and passionate about wanting to beat someone into an unrecognizable mess that would not only be charbroiled but chopped up into small pieces made everyone wonder if the people on the receiving end of their wraith would even have a 1% chance of survival or even a 10% of being recognizable after they were beaten. Loretta suddenly felt her dragon slayer blood boil and without a second thought leapt over to join them and struck a fighting pose with her fists clenched tightly.

"I may not be a member of Fairy Tail but I agree we can't let such people just do as they please! Besides I still feel like I owe you guys for letting me stay here." Natsu and Erza, who still had their hands clenched together and were facing each other both turned their heads slightly toward Loretta and nodded with satisfaction.

"Hey Lucy! Why don't you come along too? I'm sure you'll have a good time!" Natsu yelled out to Lucy in the crowd who suddenly looked like she wanted to be somewhere else. Quickly she started to protest.

"Ah well I really don't think-" But she was interrupted by Erza.

"I know you will be an asset to the team. After all you did defeat 20 Vulcans single-handed-"

"THAT IS A TOTAL EXAGGERATION!" Even after all this time those rumors about her were still there and she just could not figure out why.

Then a small voice that no one had expected come from the room, "I want to help out too." Wendy tried to step out confidently toward Natsu but instead only managed to look like someone who was trying to put on a brave face while the rest of their body spoke otherwise. Very quickly Charle started to protest.

"W-Wendy I really do not think that you should go out on such a dangerous mission with them." Wendy quickly rebutted Charle's argument with an example.

"Well I already have experience with an S-Class mission when we took on Oracion Seis and while I'm not the best fighter, I can give support at least." Wendy gathered herself up and a determined look that could split a rock in two with her gaze, at least if it had not looked so ridiculously cute, walked over and stood her ground with Loretta. Lucy suddenly felt rather self-conscious about her own attitude when Wendy decided to step forward. With a sigh Lucy put on her own determined face - one of the guys in the guild swooned - and went to join them.

"Well I suppose I can't let them get away with this either!" Her outside voice sounded confident but inside she was thinking, _"How did I manage to convince myself to join!"_ She also felt a bit like crying realizing once again she was getting swept up in the wake of Natsu and Erza. Charle reluctantly went to join Wendy and tried to ignore the suddenly ecstatic Happy.

Loretta grinned at the group that had got together and then an interesting thought occurred to her. "Hey Gajeel! What about you! If you join there will be four dragon slayers together!"

From somewhere in the back the sound of spitting and gagging could be heard as the Master choked on his coffee. The thought of FOUR dragon slayers on the same mission and the bill that would have to be paid afterward, plus whatever the council decided nearly gave Makarov a heart attack right then and there.

"Gajeel sneered, "There is no way I'm teaming up with another dragon slayer ever again. It was hard enough to stomach the last time I teamed up with a fire dragon and believe me, I have a hard stomach." Someone tried to stifle a laugh from somewhere in the crowd and Gajeel in an instant and turned around toward the sound but the only thing there as a very innocent looking Levy. Instantly Gajeel's mind trashed the thought that the sound had come from her and he smashed off toward the quest board.

"Ah well I guess not, would have been nice to hang out with him a little though." Loretta shrugged and dismissed the small episode and turned back to the newly formed team. She raised an eyebrow when she noticed that Natsu and Erza were still staring at each other with their hands clasped together. Several not so random thoughts quickly went through her head at what they might be doing, "Ummm, so what are you doing?" Loretta asked at last.

"I'm not going to back down!" Natsu spoke competitively, this time only his eyes were ablaze but with a figurative fire.

"Hm, so you think you can last against me Natsu? We'll see how long it takes." Erza gazed back with strong and confident gaze that clashed with Natsu's equally intense one. Somehow their friendly understanding had turned into a gripping contest and neither looked like they were about to back down any time soon. Loretta heard a sigh from Lucy that suggested she had seen such fights before and just accepted it.

"Well can you at least walk while you're deciding who has the best grip?" Lucy suggested to the two relentless fighters. Without so much as a nod but not letting their eyes of their grips change in the slightest they started to lead the group outside the guild and toward the nearest train station. Lucy tried not to look affiliated with the group as they walked.

The time up until the present moment had been spent on a train where for a majority of the trip Natsu and Erza still continued their contest which brought on more than a few stolen glances and unanswered questions to many of the passengers' minds. Sometimes a person as they passed by would take a quick look and start to say, "Isn't that Titania and Salamander? What are the…" About there they would far enough away that they could no longer be heard but everyone, except Natsu and Erza who were oblivious to their surroundings, could probably tell there was a question mark at the end of those sentences.

Eventually Natsu had to forfeit grudgingly but tried to attribute his loss to the fact that Erza was wearing armored gauntlets which gave her the advantage. After that they had arrived at their destination, the town of Xulian which was a major magic trading center, the perfect place to find plenty of mages which was obviously what this villain was all about. While it was still technically a town it had all the makings of a commercial city, although pretty much everything from the weapons shops to the bath supplies had something to do with magic; if an item was not magical it did not belong in the town of Xulian. The town even had a special magical cleanup crew, which was basically the magical version of the fire department, except that the types of fires they dealt with were often interesting and very explosive colors.

Despite the warnings about traveling the town as a mage because of the mage killer, as the person, or persons, doing the attacks were now called, it still had a very active market. Most of the people probably were thinking somewhere along the lines of, "_There is no way I'll be targeted, after all I'm not an important mage and I have a lot of friends with me," _or _"If they even think of messing with me I'll knock the magic right out of them!"_ Of course they kept hold to these thoughts as good comfort, at least until it happened to them. At that point their whole frame of mind changed quite substantially to allow wholesale terror and despair.

Since it was a magical town at least there were plenty of things to do while they searched around for any clues about the whereabouts of their quarry. Various amusements lined the streets ranging from hit-the-target-with-water-magic to make-the-monkey-climb-the-pole, magic food shops, and of course various magical types of gambling. One particular challenge caught Loretta's bright eyes, "Hey I'm going to beat that guy really fast ok? It will be a cinch!" What they saw was a arm wrestling match that allowed magic to be used. Sitting behind a large solid oak table that had more than a few beat marks on the side that signified him winning tremendously in his favor was a guy who was obviously a user of take-over magic, since as his right arm was much larger and was different color from the rest of his body.

Loretta sauntered over to the unoccupied side of the table, thumped down into a position opposite of Mr. Big Arm and took the challengers position with a mischievous glint in her eye. The man took her hand in his and gave her an intimidating stare which she completely ignored.

"I'm not going to go easy on you just cuz you're a girl." He mumbled gruffly and Loretta raised an eyebrow in response but otherwise did not respond to his comment. Then a small creature that had some semblance to a jelly bean became the referee and stood at one end of the table, its eyes just barely level to the top of it. It squinted its eyes down the center and began to explain the rules while the rest of the group looked on with interest. "This is a magical match so anything that does not directly harm, paralyze, kill, or affect the sanity of your opponent is free to use!"

"_Well I'm glad there are at least rules or who knows what might happen!"_ Lucy thought as the strange blue creature started the countdown for the match to begin. Erza looked on rather neutrally at the proceedings while Natsu just smiled certain of Loretta's victory. Wendy on the other hand looked at Loretta with a mix of respect and awe that she would so confidently face down such a strong opponent. The countdown had started at 5 and was now reaching 1.

The take-over user had his arm pinned before he even reacted. At first confusion was evident of his rather large face and then anger started to discolor it. "You started before the ref called GO!"

Everyone, except Loretta, looked at him with some puzzlement. "Actually she did start when I said go. I'm surprised you did not hear me," said the blue legume shutting down the guy's protest. "I am afraid it does look like we'll have to pay up!"

The muscle-bound wrestler grudgingly handed over a small sack filled with jewels from those he had already bested. "What did you do?" He added suspiciously while narrowing his eyes at the female dragon slayer who just looked back at him innocently.

"Oh I just used sound vibrations to prevent you from hearing the word go. I was able to cancel out the sound waves so you never hear it." The man's jaw dropped as he realized she had just confessed to what she had done with a face that said 'Who? Me? Do I look like someone who would do such a thing?'

"T-That's got to be illegal!" He turned hopefully toward the referee who just shook his jelly head.

"I'm afraid there are no rules that we have that could be used to disqualify her. Sorry but you have lost fair-and-square." The giant man pounded the table which trembled under the power of his fist while Loretta happily rejoined the group. The take-over user, wanting to win another match as quickly as possible demanded, "One of you should fight me next and this time I won't lose!"

"I suppose it was a bit cheap of me to use such a move on you so how about you let Wendy take you on next." Loretta grinned and pointed to Wendy who instantly had a look of shock on her face.

"Ehhh!" Were Wendy and Lucy's confused, simultaneous protests as Loretta casually walked over to Wendy with a grin.

"I know you can do it Wendy, he's more bark than brawn. You should have confidence in yourself!"

Wendy stammered, unsure of how to respond after being put on the spot like that. "B-but I-I'm not that strong you know. I'm not really suited to fighting really." Wendy started to back down when Natsu's voice suddenly dominated her hearing.

"Hey Wendy you should go do it! After all you're the dragon slayer of Air right? It should be a piece of cake for you!"

"Natsu-san…" Wendy looked from Natsu's beaming face to Loretta's confident one and she could feel her own courage rising up. "Ok I'll take him on then." It was not the most confident voice but behind her rather timid nature was a strength that would give even a rock something to think about.

"You are serious about this Wendy," Charle said matter of factly, gave a brief shake of the head but decided to go along with Wendy's decision. "Let me just say I believe your abilities will be the deciding factor in this match." Wendy mulled over Charle's sage advice and took her place on the opposite side of the table. The man looked absolutely livid.

"You send a chillin to challenge me! I am insulted! But after all in my line of work, once the match has started I'll be going all out so prepare to get hurt!" Wendy cringed a little as she timidly laid her arm on the table while the strong man did the same and his huge hand wrapped around hers in a vice-grip.

Lucy looked on in horror, "How could you actually even think about letting Wendy face him! He must be nearly as strong as Elfman!

"Na I doubt that, Elfman is really strong!" Natsu laughed a little and then continued, "Besides I know Wendy is really strong herself!"

"I know she's strong! After all look at me!" Loretta exclaimed and pointed a thumb to herself. "We female dragon slayers are really strong!"

"But you basically cheated against him!" Lucy came back exasperated at the attitudes of the two dragon slayers. Were they completely out of touch with reality? Wendy was still a small girl after all so she would not have the same power as Loretta and Natsu had. "We should stop this! Right Erza?" Lucy hoped that at least Erza would have the sense to stop such a dangerous encounter with a very ticked off arm-wrestler.

Erza seemed to contemplate the situation for a second and then asked Natsu, "What do you think are his chances are of winning?"

Natsu grinned widely, "Wendy's going to wipe the floor with him! He doesn't have a chance."

Erza nodded, "I have to agree."

Lucy slapped her own face, so much for hoping that Erza would be the most sensible of the group. She watched and unconsciously bit her bottom lip as the count-down began.

"_I know I can't match him with just strength, but Charle's right, if I use my Dragon Slayer powers I think I can do it!" _Wendy thought as she steeling herself for the fight of her arm's life.

"Go!" Shouted the blue creature that looked like it should be a strangely colored custard at a fancy party and the duel commenced.

Wendy was fading fast and her hand was being pushed down toward the table. The guy with a beast arm was surprised at the strength in her small body but still had the look of someone who knew they were going to win. Suddenly, Wendy called upon the power of the air which manifested itself into a strong wind behind her hand which helped her in her struggle and the opponent's face started to look scared as he realized he was actually getting pushed back, by a little girl no less! It was slow going but all the ground he had made at the start was steadily giving away to Wendy's wind enhanced strength.

Having enough of being pushed back the man growled out, "The Iron Golem's Fist Take Over!" Suddenly the arm changed from that of a ferocious beast to an arm made completely out of iron with the pattern of bricks on it. Once again Wendy found herself on the losing side and cringed as her arm was being pushed back so hard that it felt like her bones were going to snap.

"I-I won't give up!" Wendy gritted her teeth and then shouted, "Power of the Stout Arms that Tear Heaven! ARMS!" Suddenly Wendy's body glowed as body was added to her and with a great crash she had smashed her opponent's hand into the oak desk where it left a sizable imprint of his iron golem hand.

"We have a winner!" Lucy sighed with relief as Wendy was declared the winner while Natsu and Loretta happily went over to congratulate Wendy on her victory. A surprised Wendy found herself in a head-lock from Natsu and a pat on the head from Loretta.

"See I knew you had it in you!" Loretta laughed and rustled Wendy's hair a bit while the slightly exhausted Wendy looked up at her and felt the warmth from the two dragon slayers seem to magically fill her up with happiness. Soon the group left the disgraced mage and small blue creature to continue their search for the mage assailants.

As they walked Wendy could not help but think of how amazing Loretta had been and wished she could be a bit more like her.

* * *

In what appeared to be a completely unused storage room somewhere in Xulian was a man around 5'8'' with flat but short brown hair and fairly good looks. The man wore a very simple set of clothing which included a black muscle shirt, light brown pants, and a pair of rather thick looking brown boots. The only other thing on his person was a small black watch on his left wrist and a pair of brass knuckles he had clipped on to his pants. He was not much for fashion perhaps but he at least looked practical.

He glanced down at his watch, noted the time and then shouted inside the rather dimly lit storage room. "I! C!"

Suddenly, from separate corners came two people who somersaulted their way toward the center mirroring each other all the way to come about two feet in front of the brown-haired man and they both pointed at him and replied, YOU!"

"I really cannot see why you insist on such a weird entrance every time we have to meet. And why the heck do I have to start it anyway!" The man protested as he looked at two twins who looked exactly like each other.

The twins were the kind of people that could not only pass for each other quite interchangeably but also had such faces and bodies that it was impossible to tell just by looking if they were male or female. They were a walking identity crisis.

They were slightly smaller than the average person and rather looked teenagers who refused to give up on childhood. With blue-white hair that perfectly framed their faces and pale blue eyes as well as faces, it made it seem like they were the type that considered the sun as an evil fire-ball that wished to make them simultaneously combust. As for their matching outfits they wore white shorts with light-teal trimmings and a red shirt with a white, silver-buttoned jacket that matched their shorts. Needless to say they looked rather eccentric though perhaps a little bit cool, at least to some people.

"I think you just have a good voice that's all." Said the twin on the left as they stopped pointing at him and mirrored each other by putting their hands against their twin's, looking rather like they were engaged in some exotic art form.

"C thinks so as well Takeshi." said the other twin, managing to sound exactly the same as the first one.

The interesting thing about the twins was that they referred to themselves in the third person but since their names were "I" and "C" respectively it not only made some conversations confusing but the twins had actually made it into the running joke of "I! C! YOU!" and various modifications on that sequence. While it had been mildly amusing at the start, Takeshi was starting to get a headache each time he heard it these days.

"Well isn't that touching, in any case your latest pay has been deposited to your accounts and now that you two have lured out Erza Scarlet and Natsu Dragneel, all you need for your last paycheck is to defeat them."

The twins grinned at this, locked their hands together and started twisting and turning in perfect coordination, always completely symmetrical in every move they made. "But of course, C and I have been humiliating mages for you for three weeks now."

"I and C will be sure to take them down for you. There are no mages who can stand up to I and C's perfect combination!" The two stopped their mad dance to end up leaning back-to-back with each other, arms crossed and faces turned toward Takeshi with evil, but cute, smirks on their faces. "No one has beaten the Mirror Twins yet!"

"Yes your reputation as mercenary mages precedes you." Takeshi managed to keep a straight face as he looked at them. "Remember that we want you to personally take care of the Salamander and Titania, any others with them you can take care of in the usual manner."

"But of course employer!" With a conspiratorial wink they left the scene as dramatically as they had entered and somehow they always managed to mirror each other exactly until they disappeared from sight.

Takeshi remembered something and shouted out to the twins one last time. "Oh and don't forget I'll will be joining to watch the proceedings myself!" Silence greeted him; he shrugged and casually walked out of the storage chamber. Soon it would be time to see how Salamander and Titania would face the deadly twins of the mage underworld. And soon he would have the answers he was seeking. "It will fun to finally meet you Titania and of course, Salamander!"

**Author's Note: Sorry it took so long and another apology for having very little action yet, hopefully that will change in the next chapter. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter and hopefully I'll be able to make the next chapter soon but don't count on it cause writer's are fickel creatures XD.**


	4. Enter the Hall of Mirrors

**Bold type = Twins talking at the same time.**

Chapter 4 - Enter the Hall of Mirrors

Natsu and his group had been walking around Xulian for hours but either no one knew anything about the assailants that was useful or they were too scared to say anything. "Come on where are they! I want to fight already!" Natsu yelled out with fiery impatience, causing a passerby to jump to the side out of fright, and to avoid getting singed by his flames.

"Hey hey, calm down Natsu, I'm sure we'll find them sooner or later." Lucy tried to console Natsu while thinking on the inside, _"I kind of hope we don't meet whoever it is, to get the reputation of a mage killer they must be really strong! I shouldn't have let myself get swayed."_

"Lucy's right Natsu, we should have patience." Erza agreed and walked up to a random passerby. "Excuse me but you would not happen to know where we could locate the mage assailant that has been plaguing this area recently."

"Errr…well I don-" The man did not have a chance to really start before Erza suddenly punched him in the gut and moved onto the next shocked passerby with a more forceful and to the point question.

Loretta cringed as the next guy fell to Erza's impatient questioning. "Well Erza seems to be really getting into it," Loretta said with a half-laugh while cringing at the same time as the next person entered a world of Erza induced pain.

"Aye! Erza really knows how to knock it out of them!" Happy happily commented while Charle merely huffed in annoyance.

"We really won't get anywhere like this." Charle made sure to face in a direction other than Happy while she tried to concentrate and bring up a premonition.

Wendy looked a bit troubled while she watched Erza knock more people down and forced herself to look away and ask Charle, "Say, Charle are you getting anything."

Charle concentrated for a bit more and then gave up, "Sorry, I just can't pick out anything we can use. I'm still getting used to these premonitions after all." Charle looked a bit downcast since she was not being much help but Wendy just smiled kindly at her long-time companion.

"Don't worry about it; I'm sure we won't have to look for too much longer." Wendy patted Charle on the head and looked up to see Erza returning, looking as if she had nothing to do with the many moaning people on the ground at the moment.

Happy hopped down toward Charle, "Charle, how about we go over there to get some fish?" Happy pointed, while drooling, to a stall that had a giant cardboard fish shaped sign advertising, "FRESH FISH! THEY WERE FRESH YESTERDAY, TODAY, AND TOMORROW." Charle found herself narrowing her eyes at the sign, running the phrase "were fresh yesterday, today, and tomorrow" through her head and very quickly realized the flaw in the logic. Most likely some magic kept the fish fresh but she had to wonder if they had been fresh before the magic had been cast.

"This is hardly the time to indulge ourselves in something so trivial." The man behind the stand glared at her and Charle quickly turned her nose up at him.

"Well I suppose we should move on then," Erza sighed and the group wordlessly followed her lead, ignoring the passed out people on the side of the street as best as they could. They had not gone much further when their first clue yelled at them from the ground.

"Hey watch where you guys step! Seven years' bad luck you know!" The group stopped and looked down to see one of the most polished and beautiful mirrors they had ever seen. Finding herself the closest, Wendy stooped down and grabbed the delicately carved handle of the pure silver mirror. The mirror was intricately designed to look as if the crystal class was surrounded by a thick ivy vine of pure silver. The back of the mirror was completely flat and Wendy could see her face almost as well as in the crystal mirror itself. Wendy turned it back over to look at it more closely when all of a sudden the mirror spoke using her own reflected image.

"Ah, I'm glad that it was a beautiful young lady who picked me up. Such beautiful dark blue hair you have," The Wendy in the mirror started stroking its hair while Wendy found herself completely taken aback by the magical mirror.

"Ehh..well thank you," was all Wendy managed to say as she stared at her image talking back to her.

"No thank you, any longer down there and who knows what would have happened to me." The mirror Wendy bowed and soon everyone in the group was crowded around Wendy.

"Wow, I've never even heard of an actual talking mirror before, I mean sure there are those Mirror Mirror on the wall stories but nothing like this!" Lucy exclaimed in wonderment as she tried to lean in closer toward the mirror enough that part, at least certain parts, of her managed to get reflected in on the glass. The very edges of the mirror tinged pink for a brief moment before returning to normal. _"That talking mirror did not do what I just think it did right?" _Lucy found herself thinking as the look of wonderment changed to acute suspicion. The mirror innocently reflected as much of her that it could next to Wendy's face.

"Awesome! A talking mirror! Let me get a closer look at it!" Natsu excitedly pushed his way next to Wendy and placed his face right next to hers so that his face got reflected in the hand mirror as well. Wendy could feel her cheeks involuntarily flush as Natsu's face practically rubbed up against her and she could not help but notice that the side of her face that Natsu was next to was feeling a little warmer than the other side. The mirror twinkled almost imperceptibly the moment Natsu had entered the mirror image.

"It would seem I have encountered quite a group." Said Wendy' s mirror image as it turned to look at Natsu's face beside it and then Natsu's image moved independently like Wendy's and turned its face toward Wendy's image so they were face-to-face and said, "So it would seem," and it even grinned like Natsu did.

"Man that's so cool!" Natsu gave a short laugh and a mischievous grin crept on his face, "I bet we could use this to play tricks on people! Like we could tell it to suddenly make a face at them or something. Too bad you know about the mirror already Lucy. It would have been fun to see how you'd react." Natsu covered part of mouth with his fingers and gave a stupid look in Lucy's direction in which Wendy just happened to be between them.

"You are completely shameless aren't you Natsu." Lucy gave an aggravated look back in his direction and one of her eyebrows rose just slightly to emphasize what she was thinking. Wendy, finding herself suddenly sandwiched between Natsu and Lucy, felt herself starting to perspire a little bit and tried giving a small laugh to relieve some of the tension she felt but it did not help very much.

Without warning, Natsu suddenly found himself shoved aside as Loretta took his place. "What the heck was that for?" Natsu protested loudly, while Loretta whistled, as if she had been there all the time and that Natsu was just shouting at her for no reason.

With Natsu no longer right beside her Wendy found herself breathing a slight sigh of relief and when she took a quick glance at Loretta she saw the older dragon slayer give her a fast wink. Wendy found herself taken aback momentarily but soon gave an appreciative smile back.

With Loretta now taking Natsu's place in the mirror, Loretta's image was the one to speak up this time, "You are all a group of mages right? Do you mind if you give me a quick look around so I can 'see' all of you?"

Wendy nodded just the slightest bit, held up the mirror and turned in so everyone got their face reflected in it a one point or another. When Erza was reflected, the mirror shimmered for a split second and Erza found herself looking coldly at the accessory. Wendy brought it down again so that once more Wendy and Loretta's faces dominated the silver mirror.

"Quite the group you are, if you do not mind I would like to accompany you from now on." The mirror seemed to twinkle, which was probably about the same as a beaming face. "My last owners, I'm afraid, recently lost all their will after being attacked quite abruptly and just discarded me as they decided to quit being mages. I'm just glad that it was you who picked me up."

"Wait," suddenly Loretta was interested in what the mirror had just said, "you said your previous owners were attacked?" The magical circuits of thought quickly engaged in everyone's head and very quickly there was no part reflected in the mirror that was not part of one of the team's bodies. It had become very crowded all of a sudden and Wendy found herself scrunching up so she did not feel so suffocated.

"So does this mean we've finally found a clue?" Lucy asked to no one in particular as she continued to look at the mirror.

"Ummm…may I assist you?" The mirror asked, darkening a little under the combined shadows of the entire team.

"Tell us where the assailants are located." Erza commanded as an armored fist got through and Wendy quickly allowed Erza to take the mirror from her. Erza glared at the mirror and if the mirror could shrink it certainly would have wanted to.

"O-of course beautiful lady." The mirror assured her, hoping that the curse of seven years bad luck would be enough to safeguard its life from The Titania.

It did not take very long for the mirror to comply with her demands and soon it had led the group toward what appeared to be a severely unmaintained hall of mirrors. "So this is their hideout huh?" Loretta commented while thinking that the place did not look like very much since there seemed to be a lot of cracked glass near its entrance.

"So they must be really strong right! I'm all fired up!" Natsu called out gleefully as he smashed his fists together and then charged forward into the building. "I'm going to take him on before any of you guys can!" Gleefully shouting he disappeared as he rounded the first corner inside the hall of mirrors, while being followed by Happy. "Aye Sir!"

"Natsu! Come back here!" Erza shouted trying to reign him back in, "we need to stay together to make sure we can take them out!" Of course her commands fell on deaf ears and Erza's fist tightened in anger.

"Heh, your just jealous I'm gonna get all the good fights!" came Natsu's voice from somewhere inside. Erza snapped,

"Natsu! You're always charging off by yourself!" Soon Erza had also disappeared inside the building in a rage, leaving Wendy, Loretta, and Lucy outside by themselves.

"Ha ha ha, maybe we should just leave it to those two; the place is probably going to collapse soon anyway." Lucy suggested sensibly and tried to slowly back away.

"Ya right! After all I'm number one so I can't just stay back while both of them fight." Loretta started to grin though instead of running, she walked to the hall after grabbing ahold of Lucy's hand.

"Why are you dragging me along as well!" Lucy protested as she was forced inside by Loretta leaving only Wendy and Charle outside.

"I must say I feel sorry for Lucy," Charle said as she watched the two round the corner into the mirror-walled building.

"Ya I guess I have to agree Charle," Wendy gave a short weak laugh as she attempted to gather up her courage.

"You know Wendy, Lucy did make a good point. It might be best for us to stay out here and wait for them." Charle hoped she could keep Wendy out of unnecessary danger but soon she realized her arguments were all for naught.

"I suppose but I want to help them out the best that I can, even if it's only in the smallest way possible so I'm going. You'll be there to help me, right Charle?" Wendy asked with her innocent face and the cat could only sigh in defeat.

"Yes, I did promise I would be with you and protect you always so I'll go with you wherever." Wendy smiled at Charle then turned to face the dilapidated building, attempted to gulp down her fears and walked inside with Charle. Only a few feet in she noticed that Erza had dropped the silver mirror in her mad rush to catch Natsu. She picked it up and looked into it but at the moment it seemed to have been turned off. Holding it tight she entered the labyrinth of mirrors and proceeded to get lost, along with everyone else inside.

"Ha ha, they all went in C!"

"Yes I, soon we will be able to spring our trap and fulfill our contract." The Mirror Twins grinned from their hiding spot, what appeared to be a long abandoned street stall, straight across from the hall of mirrors. In fact all they had done was stand completely still and the people from Fairy Tail had not even noticed them.

"Well let's go I!"

"But of course C!"

"**I, C You Soon!" **Perfectly mirroring each other they also entered the hall of mirrors, both with crazy grins plastered on their faces. **"You are welcomed to I and C's domain!"**

* * *

"Well it would seem that Mirage will soon be able to tell us how the situation will transpire," said a dark and ominous voice that echoed through the darkness. The darkness was only slightly illuminated by one sickly looking ball of light that contained a sizable number of captured fireflies who were probably wondering when their world had become so small. Inside the light's rather dismal radius were several figures in dressed all in black, making their figures look like nothing more than a slightly lighter shade of black that desperately tried to put on some gray so it could distinguish itself. The one who had spoken was the closest figure to the ball of dim lights and was a fairly large fellow at that so that the person behind him got no light at all and could not be seen unless one really focused on the area.

"Do you have to do that creepy magic modified voice all the time? I know you love dramatic effect and all but seriously," Came a complainer's voice from the side of the circle. He sounded like the impatient sort.

Then from the other side a feminine and refined voice spoke up, "I have to agree, though personally what mortifies me is having to wear these ridiculous outfits." The guy in the center turned his head to glare at her as she moved her arms up to remove the hood covering her face but stopped before she could reveal anything more than her arms.

"Oh be patient, I just want to make these meetings more interesting after all, it's not like I ask you to pose before every battle since I know where to draw the line between practicality and the dramatic!"

She sighed, crossed her arms into the cloak's sleeves and waited.

"Give me some credit for being able to find such a dark place in the day time." The central figure mumbled, and then a cough could be heard from behind him. "All right, so anyway to the point, once we confirm the truth we'll have to get everything set up for the next operation; although, our first priority will be to boost our fighting strength just a bit before we can," he paused for a moment to think it over then continued, "Should reveal ourselves completely."

"Yes_ should _is definitely the correct term since technically we are already one of the most powerful organizations in the mage world," said one of the shadowy figures that had been silent for a while. "Heck I alone-" A smaller figure standing next to him cleared their throat, "_We_, could do it. When the heck did you get there anyway!" It looked down at its smaller counterpart who returned the look by glancing up, deadpan, which really was the only look anyone could give another since they could not see each other's faces in the dim light.

"Oh I'm sure you could but we cannot leave anything to chance which is why I need the results of this engagement before we can move out." He suddenly raised his hands upward, making him look like some cult leader about summon a creature from the depths of darkness, or from the fireflies which would make no sense to any practitioner of black magic. "Soon we will be the ones to issue a new era to this land of Fiorie and the world shall follow in our footsteps! Soon we shall be able to cast off the shadow of anominity and take the centre stage as we lead this nation into the great future!"

There was silence as every took, or did not take the words of their leader. "So how long will we have to stand here?" Replied the impatient guy who was trying hard not to move.

"Until Mirage comes back with our information." The leader answered back.

"Errr how long ago did he check in to say that the engagement would begin soon?"

"Oh about 10 minutes ago," Dead silence seemed to suffocate the room and it stayed that way for a whole minute until the impatient guy spoke up again.

"Blast my legs are already starting to go to sleep! You better get here soon Mirage!"

"DON'T RUIN THE MOOD!"

"Waiting like this is going to be painful."

**Author's Note: Ya I know this chapter was not all that exciting and it was shorter than most but I really did not want to start into the main meat of this 'arc' until the next chapter. So sorry but this was mostly a set-up chapter. In any case, hopefully I'll be able to work on the next chapter during Thanksgiving break but until then, enjoy this chapter while you wait. Comment and review if you feel the need to.**


	5. Evil Reflections

**Bold type = Twins talking at the same time.**

Chapter 5 - Evil Reflections

The thing about a hall of mirrors is that it is very easy to be disoriented, like a bird that cannot see a window until it is too late. Natsu was having quite a bit of trouble as well. "What the heck is with this place! All I want is to beat up that guy!" Natsu was raging as he looked everywhere, trying to find the right path. "It has got to be this way!" he shouted, ran for about 4 steps, and crashed into the mirror wall.

"I've had enough of this!" Natsu yelled and smashed his fist into the wall, breaking the mirror and the entire wall. "When there is no path in front of you, make one yourself!" He smirked a little as he started to rampage in a straight line, of course he had no idea which way he was heading but at least he was making progress again. Man-made structures had no chance against the destructive force of the fire dragon slayer. It only took about a minute for Erza to catch up to the spot where holes in the walls and pieces of glass on the ground were becoming the building's newest décor. She quickly stepped through the first of many holes to chase after Natsu. It was often said one could track a dragon by their trail of destruction and Natsu was no exception, though real dragons tended to be a lot more cautious than the fiery dragon slayer if there were any still alive.

"Where are you?" Natsu shouted out to challenge his enemies while Happy followed close behind him. "If you don't come out I'm going to-Gah!" Natsu tried mashing through another wall but instead met only fire resistance and ended up smashing into it along with Happy who had just sped up so as not to lag behind. They both slumped to the ground, Natsu slid down the glass mirror and Happy slid head down and rather comically folded up on the ground stunned. "Why the heck is this wall so strong!" Natsu leapt back on his feet and tired punching the wall but to no avail. "Hey, Happy! Wake up!" Natsu at first cradled the stunned exseed in his hands and then started to shake him violently. "This is no time to take a cat nap! We need to find that guy!" A voice from behind him stopped him cold.

"Natsu! We were supposed to stay together! Now nearly everyone is split up!" Erza shouted in an accusing voice, completely dismissing the fact that she had left the others behind when she had charged after Natsu. She stomped forward and Natsu started to visibly shake, "You could have easily rushed into a trap and have not known it!" She had just grabbed Natsu by the scarf when two voices could be heard of from above.

"You are already-"

"-in our trap." The voices said one of them finishing the other's sentence.

"**I, C You!"** The twins leapt down from the ceiling and Erza let go of her hold to whirl around to face them. As usual the mirror twins were exactly parallel to each other in all they did, mirroring the other's moves perfectly. **"We are the mirror twins and we welcome you Erza Scarlet and Natsu Dragneel!"**

Erza and Natsu were both in fighting stances; Erza held her sword out in front of her and Natsu already had his hands blazing with his trademark fire. "It would seem you were well aware of our arrival here though I am sure I would have known if you were keeping an eye on us." She glared at the twins who merely shrugged toward each other with bemused looks.

"I see you are as perceptive as they say Titania," said the twin on the right.

"C knew you were smart so we found an easier way to lure you here."

"Indeed C, I know we were quite clever, we never had to get close really."

Their strange talk was starting to confuse Natsu and he was starting to find it hard to know exactly what they were talking about. His eyes started to squint, and his nose wrinkled as if he had just caught whiff of a horrid smell.

"That mirror, I should have known it was strange for there to be a talking mirror." Erza beat herself up in her mind for her carelessness and started to tense up a bit more to start her attack.

"No need-"

"-to get so hasty. I and C are s-class assassins hired specifically-"

"-to take out the-"

"**Titania and Salamander!"**

"What!" Natsu yelled, thankful that he had been able to understand something at last. "Who the heck would want to kill us! There is absolutely no way you can take us down!"

The twins merely laughed and touched hands together, **"C and I perhaps not while you are together but separately,"** With a grin suddenly a mirror wall shot up from the floor between the twins and between Natsu and Erza.

"Natsu!" Erza tried to warn as the wall shot up, she attempted to smash it with her sword but it merely bounced off with a metallic clang.

"Erza!" Natsu shouted back and also tried to smash the wall with his fist but the magical mirror wall stood firm. Soon both Natsu and Erza were completely enclosed in two separate mirror rooms with their respective opponents.

"Now you will have no more support," said I who was in the same room as Natsu, "the Titania will not be able to save you from I."

"Oh really, I think it's the opposite way around, since Erza can't be caught up in my attacks so I can go all out!" Natsu flared his flame all around him and grinned while he smashed his fists together to pump himself up and charged forward, bringing his right fist back for a powerful blow. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!"

"You think that by taking us on one at a time you can win?" Erza questioned her enemy who merely stood there with a slight smile.

"Oh C knows C and I can, it is a matter of fact inside this hall of mirrors designed especially to hunt down mages. Yes, we are the ones you are looking for but do not worry, after C is done with all of you our contract will be complete so there will be no more casualties in this town. You'll die but your mission will be complete at least."

Erza gave her own slight smile which caused C to have a slightly puzzled look in response, "You seem to have forgotten about our comrades, when they find us you will not stand a chance." The puzzled look on C's face vanished to be replaced with a grin.

"Oh I would not worry about your friends, they'll be dealt with accordingly, C and I will not even have to lift a finger, the Hall will get rid of them for us."

"Hmmm, I would not underestimate them if I was you, I do not care what traps await them, and of course I doubt their help will be needed as I plan to finish you off here and now!" Erza leapt at C to attack with a powerful downward slash from her sword as C calmly watched, that slight smile never disappearing from C's face.

* * *

Wendy was starting to really feel alone and scared, so she was incredibly thankful for Charle's company. Turns turned out to be dead ends and their sense of direction was getting totally thrown off by seeing so many reflections of themselves in the those mirrors, since they were everywhere there was almost an infinite amount of reflecting images of the pairs. Wendy bit her bottom lip as she tried to reason out where she should go next. "Umm, Charle you would not happen to know?" Wendy asked hopefully but Charle's reply soon dampened her hope like an almost dry towel that has a bucket of water dumped on it.

"I'm afraid I'm as lost as you are, if only Natsu and that male cat had any brains at all we would not be in his mess." Charle fumed and she dared one of her reflections to try something. Of course all it did was dare her back.

"You should not talk about them like that Charle." Wendy reprimanded her best friend but in a very meek voice.

Charle sighed and nodded in agreement, "I know but sometimes I just can't help it, those two are always so…charred in the head it seems."

"Well I guess it could seem that way but even so they are always there for us and never let us down. I believe in them!" Wendy clenched her tiny fist in the air with renewed vigor, "let's go find them." She was about to head off when she thought of an idea. "I know! Maybe that mirror could help us?" Wendy held out the mirror in front of her so she was reflected into it.

"Now Wendy, I'm not so sure if we should trust that thing." Charle warned as she flew next to her head.

"I suppose, but it is our best bet at finding them! Umm, mirror since you were here before do you think you could lead us to where Natsu is?" Wendy's face in the mirror seemed to think about her request and finally it decided to speak up though rather slowly.

"I might know where they may be, unlike you I will not be disoriented by this place so it should be rather easy…now let's head back and then there should be a passage to the left…" Wendy held the mirror out and followed its directions deeper into the hall of mirrors, with Charle flying behind, looking suspiciously at the silver hand mirror.

Eventually they found themselves in a slightly larger chamber and the Wendy in the mirror stared down sadly at her invisible lower half with her head bowed. "I'm sorry but I do actually have an owner."

"Huh, what do you mean by that?" Wendy asked. Suddenly, with the sound of doors being slammed shut by an angry house member after being made fun of, all the entrances and exits to the chamber vanished, replaced by the same mirror walls that populated the building, of course these ones were in perfect condition.

"We've been had Wendy!" Charle nearly growled at the hand-held mirror, "Where have you put us?"

"One of the rooms of reflection." The mirror stated, as from the far wall, the reflected image of Charle and Wendy stepped out of the mirror and into the room.

"How are we," Wendy started as she stared at the exact copies of themselves staring at them from across the room, "I mean, what are they?" The figures stepped toward them slowly and methodically with completely blank looks on their faces, showing that the copies had no real will of their own.

"I don't know Wendy but toss that mirror quickly and let's get ready, I have a bad feeling those look-a-likes are not here to have tea with us."

* * *

"Where have you dragged us Loretta! Now we're totally lost!" Lucy complained as she followed behind the confident stride of the dragon slayer of sound.

"Don't worry I'm sure we're close behind them." Loretta's voice was completely filled to the brim with self-confidence; however, Lucy was not at all convinced as they came into a slighter larger space inside the hall of mirrors.

There was a strange grating sound which Loretta heard instantly, she was the dragon slayer of sound after all, and in the time it takes to bat an eyelash she pushed Lucy to the side right before a section of wall descended from the ceiling almost on top of her, they were separated.

"Lucy can you hear me!" Loretta slammed her hand against the mirror and shouted at her own reflection which imitated her movements exactly. "Great, looks like I over-confidently led us into a trap, oh well I'm sure it is nothing I can't handle." Loretta cracked her knuckles and turned, to face herself; she had to admit this she had not been expecting. "If I know myself, this is going to be one hard fight."

* * *

"Loretta! What was that for…" Lucy's retort died away as she realized her friend was gone. "Loretta?" She asked inquisitively to the mirrored room, she looked around and then saw her own reflection step out of the wall, making her nearly jump out of her skin. "What is with this! Why does it seem like I'm always having to fight myself!" The reflection started blankly at her, not comprehending everything but it also mimicked her moves precisely which looked rather ridiculous up on one leg with arms held up in front of her like karate master who preferred the more artful ways of fighting rather than the most efficient ones.

"_Since there is no water I can't use Aquarius but I still have a very power stellar spirit at my command."_ She thought to herself as she faced her reflection come to life. She took one of her gate keys and chanted, "Gate of the lion I open thee, Leo!" As she did her movements the reflection did the exact same thing.

"You called for me hime-sama?" Loki said in jest as he appeared, "I will always be here for you."

"Yes, yes I know but right now we got an issue to deal with!" She said pointing at her double that did the same thing.

"Ah I see they got every part of you perfectly."

"This is no time to be admiring me!"

"This should not take…Lucy…is that supposed to be me!" Loki's mouth gaped open as he pointed at the black figure that was supposedly him. It had roughly the same shape but there was absolutely no color, it was like someone had stripped Loki of his shadow and had given life to it.

"I guess," Lucy looked at the black form that mimicked Loki's every move, "I guess for some reason this magic cannot copy stellar spirits very well. I suppose that's good for us though! Loki if you would do the honors?"

"Of course Lucy, it will be a pleasure to get rid of these third rate hacks!" Regulus on his fists, Loki charged Regulus at his shadow which mimicked his own moves; instead of light around its fists there was only an aura of darkness. It was like the forces of light and darkness inside Loki had split apart and were now going to go at each other with all they had.

Instead of acting like a normal mirror image, the shadowy specter of Loki did his exact same move. Both their right fists sailed toward each other's faces and they both dodged in the exact opposite direction but the magic around their fists gave a cut on each other's cheek before they could jump back from each other. "It may be a mere shadow but it is copying me pretty well, still I'm not about to allow this thing defeat me!" Loki shot his fist forward and fired a Regulus from it, straight at the imposter which did the same thing back. A beam of light and a beam of darkness crashed into each other with great force but neither seemed to have the advantage over the other.

Thankfully Lucy was far enough away that the only part of the blast that reached her and her exact double was a burst of wind which ruffled both of their skirts. Lucy narrowed her eyes at herself while the reflection stared vacantly back; neither had done anything for a little while. _"Since it is my mirror image, maybe if I don't do anything I will not be attacked!"_ They held their ground and nothing happened. Lucy was about to breathe a sigh of relief but then the pseudo-Lucy reached for its whip and lashed out at her while Lucy jumped out of the way, "Well so much for that theory!" Lucy pulled out her own whip and tried to counter-attack but the image was ready and easily dodged her strike.

"Guess I have no choice but to attack or we won't be getting anywhere!" Lucy lashed out with a side-swipe but unlike Loki's mirror image this one acted exactly like a mirror and did her exact same move, making the whips slap into each other and nearly get tangled. She was not about to give up though and she could not risk summoning another stellar spirit since undoubted another image would pop up to counter it. She tried lashing out in every conceivable direction but her other self merely did the exact same thing; the whips bounced off of each other for a while but finally managed to wrap themselves around the other, and they were suddenly in a tug-of-war. _"Ugh, now am I supposed to beat myself!"_

Once again Loki and his shadow self hit each other, this time with a kick to each other's sides which sent them careening in opposite directions. Loki held his side for a second as if he could get rid of some of the pain while his image did the same. "We both take damage but it is always the same, if I hit, it hits, if I dodge it dodges." Then a sudden thought came to him; he had noticed a bit of Lucy's fight with herself and besides its appearance, there was another thing which his opponent was doing that was entirely different from Lucy's. There was a possibility he could use it to his advantage. "Come on over here you copy!" Loki goaded the image on as he ran toward one of the mirror walls; the image responded in kind and did the exact same thing, this time mimicking him completely until they both stopped right next to the wall.

"Let's see if you can copy me now!" Loki swung in an arc outward with the arm that was away from the wall while the shadowy copy attempted to do the same thing with the arm that was right next to the wall, but it did not have the room to do such a maneuver. Some sort of error code allowed the copy to try and kick out at Loki but he moved around it and his fist came crashing into the thing's cheek, slamming it into the glass which did not shatter upon the impact. It tried to push him off but Loki gripped its head with the hand he had punched it with and unleashed a Regulus Impact straight into the skull, if it could be called a skull. The imaged shattered into thousands of small pieces of glass which managed to cut Loki's hand but other than the few bruises he had taken from trading blows with the mirror puppet he was all right.

Lucy pulled and her muscles bulged with the strain while her other self did the same thing on the other end of the entangled whips. Lucy suddenly could not take it anymore and dropped her whip. "I think it is time for you to taste my, Lucy Kick!" She leapt at toward her adversary; one foot extended out while it did the same thing but before their feet could collide, a leg struck out at the fake and she felt a strong arm wrap around her body, stopping her in mid flight. She found herself staring up into the kind face of Loki, "Good thing I remembered which was the real you, otherwise how could I be your lover?" Lucy could not help but blush as Loki held her like the partner of a ballerina, her kicking leg still outstretched, it felt a little weird to have one of his hands under her leg.

"S-stop talking foolishness and let me go!" Loki was about to respond when suddenly an angry voice, the same as Lucy's came from the image.

"How in the world could you not tell me apart from that imposter!" The voice was clear and loud, and it was a perfect copy of Lucy's.

Loki let the real Lucy down lightly in shock, suddenly not so sure if he had made the right choice. _"Shoot, I suppose it is possible they switched places while I was not looking and if I hurt Lucy..."_

Lucy could see the turmoil in the stellar spirit's eyes and tried desperately to reaffirm him. "No Loki! Don't listen to her, you were right and you protected me!" As she talked the imposter slowly made its way forward, trying to get close. "I'll show you right now you were right!" Lucy reached down, untangled the whips and picked up her own and swung it toward the fake which tried to do the same thing but did not have the brains to realize it no longer had the whip in hand. The real whip easily dominated over the non-existent one and as the whip tip hit the other Lucy on the arm there was a sudden crack, not of bone but of glass breaking and a small piece of glass fell from its arm.

"Thank goodness, I would have hated myself if I had hit you instead."

"I have to admit I probably would have hated you for awhile as well." Lucy replied as the mirror image glared at them but with the illusion broken, a few more whips from Lucy and a hit from Loki finally shattered the image. "Looks like we won, all right!"

* * *

Fist clashed against fist as Loretta and her doppelganger fought with exactly equal power and equal moves. Fighting against an opponent with the same power and that used the same moves was kind of like playing tennis against a wall, no matter how hard she fought it was impossible to take down her opponent and her fists were starting to actually hurt a little. She tried a kick but it did the exact same thing and all she accomplished was almost busting her knee against her replica. "I knew I was strong but I never thought I would have the opportunity to complain about myself." Loretta flexed her half-gloved hands and linked her fingers together out in front of her to crack them and of course the reflection did the same thing.

"Still, it's not every day you get to prove you are better than yourself!" Loretta smiled and decided to wait. At first the clone did the same thing but after about a minute it decided to attack with a sound blast from its mouth. Loretta quickly recognized the frequency and returned the attack so they canceled each other out. "Please, trying sound attacks is definitely not something that could affect me!" This time the replica charged her with a kick; Loretta locked her arm around its kick and took the blow, charged a sound blast in her free hand and attacked. It managed to block with its arms but the force of the attack blasted the apparition away and it shook a little as the sound vibrations resonated through its body; there was something off about the sound but she could not quite make sense of it at the moment. At the very least she and her double had different injuries for the first time in their fight but since it had blocked her attack she had taken more damage than it had taken.

"The only time you show variety is when you attack me but when I attack it's all my own work, wish you would actually retort back or something! Mute things aren't very interesting." It of course did not reply and quickly recovered from her attack and walked back up in front of Loretta. _"I know that sound is important, why now of all times do I have to have dust shoot in my brain!"_ Loretta tried a quick combo of attacks but as usual it managed to pull all of her moves off perfectly, exactly like a mirror. _"That's it! A Mirror! This clone of mine is based off of the properties of a mirror and of course it will have the same weakness of one!"_

Loretta leapt back as did the clone and finally Loretta had the knowledge she needed in order to fight back. "Too bad they tried this kind of trap against me! Your minutes are numbered now!" They both leapt back a few paces and Loretta lifted her head upward slightly and started to sing, at first at a normal tone and then getting higher and higher, octave by octave. The mirror clone did the same thing but then a strange sound started to come from the clone as the increasingly higher pitches started to resonate with the glass. Some sort of alarm must have gone off in the replica as it stopped trying to copy Loretta and instead unleashed a Screech of the Sound Dragon at her. The heavy sound waves buffeted her, knocking her off her feet and it also interrupted her singing. She felt woozy and her ears hurt but she quickly continued to her sonic assault on the glass. The clone rocketed toward her to stop her with a flurry of kicks and punches, Loretta tried to block them as well as she could while she continued to get even higher on the sound registry and the clone was starting to creak as high sound frequencies played havoc inside it.

The fake tried to knock the air out of her but Loretta stubbornly let it hit her anywhere but a location where she would be forced to stop. The reflection punched again and a decisive crack could be heard as its hand shattered when it struck against Loretta's chest, it was enough power to stop Loretta's singing and glass shards cut her from the shattered hand but the sound had already done enough unstabling of the mirror clone and it tumbled down upon her in thousands of small fragments. Loretta collapsed on the ground panting, cut, bruised, and fatigued from the fight. She felt very drained and just wanted a few minutes to recuperate from the intense battle; during those last few seconds she had taken a lot of damage from the fake's relentless assault while she was concentrating on her high notes. Looking back at the wall behind her from her position on the floor, she saw cracks start to form in the center and outward until the whole wall separating her and Lucy collapsed. She had definitely not expected to see what she thought she saw.

* * *

"You know every time I come back to this world my heart grows for you Lucy." Loki gently held Lucy's chin in his hand and gazed into her eyes over the top of his shades.

"I'm sure you have used a similar line on many other girls," Lucy said in protest while trying to divert her eyes elsewhere.

"I suppose I may have but you are the only person who holds true meaning in my life." Lucy was again to say something in retort and that is when the wall came down, literally.

"So I bust my butt taking down one of these traps and while that's happening you've been making out with some good-looking guy?" Loretta questioned from her position on the ground, looking at the scene up-side-down, which certain made the scene look more interesting.

Lucy's mouth hung open for a minute when she heard and saw Loretta but then she quickly pushed Loki away from her. "No! It is definitely, DEFINITELY not what it looks like ok! We were fighting ourselves earlier and he always acts this way and forced closure!" Loki merely laughed as he allowed himself to be put back into the spirit realm by Lucy's magic. Lucy breathed heavily after her outburst and Loretta merely laughed.

"Ha ha, well it's good to know you haven't been leaving me out of the fun." Lucy puffed out her cheeks rather childishly and Loretta attempted to right herself but failed and let herself fall back down. "Still, it doesn't look like you had half as hard a fight as I did. You think you could help me up in a minute?"

"Sure, then let's go find the others." They nodded to each other with similar smiles on their faces.

* * *

"Howl of the Sky Dragon!" A twister of wind erupted from Wendy's mouth while her twin did the same. The two tornados of compressed air smashed into each other and a wave of wind flashed out across the room causing Wendy to cover her eyes with an arm as the winds messed with her hair and dress.

"Wendy!" Charle called out to the young dragon slayer as the blast of wind almost disrupted her flight patterns along with her clone. "To think they had such an elaborate trap set up." She clenched her teeth in anger as she looked at the magic clone of herself; to think they had been forced into such a difficult situation. "We have to win no matter what! Exactly how though I do not know!" Charle flew toward her opponent who did the same thing, their paws locked as she tried to overpower the fake which of course did the exact same thing she did.

"I know Charle, we have to do this!" Wendy stood her ground against her other self, "I…I won't let everyone down! Fast Winds that Run the Heaven! BANIA!" Her support magic came into effect and she could feel the increased power in her own body as she was given incredible speed. Propelling herself toward her foe she shouted with all her might and tucked her shoulder in to ram into the fake. The fake did the same thing and the collision of the two light bodies made the two ricochet off of each other. Wendy let out a "Kya!" as the force threw her back across her side of the room while the replica did the same but in the opposite direction.

Finding neither of them budging against the other, Charle attempted a different tactic and tried to throw the fake to the ground, but with the image doing the exact same thing all that managed to happen was have them both fall, but of course cats always land on their feet. She disengaged and the two started to circle around each other. "You should not be keeping me from Wendy!"

Wendy gingerly stood back up after her toss and held her shoulder where the collision had started. It did not feel broken thankfully but it still hurt a lot, her twin seemed to be in the same condition however instead of just staying in one place it was making its way over to her. _"I don't know what to do Charle! I know I said I'd win but I-I don't think I can! Natsu…I wish I had your kind of strength! But I can't give up yet!"_ Wendy went to meet herself and forced her hand to stop clutching her shoulder and prepared to fight, "Tornado Fist of the Wind Dragon!" Two miniature tornados and fists hit each other and another wave of wind flowed through the room.

Pseudo-Charle lashed out but the real Charle managed to avoid its claws by jerking out of the way. "Oh getting impatient I see!" Charle baited and the replica took the bait but this time Charle was not ready for it and took a slash to the cheek. Charle sat down hard and rubbed her cheek, "Ow, that hurt!" As the fake raised its claws for another assault, Charle's paws clasped the handle of the silver mirror, which protested being handled as a shield, to stave off the claw slashes and Charle closed her eyes in case of shattering glass. Instead of the expected shower of glass shards from the mirror, instead Charle felt nothing, not even resistance. She slowly opened her eyes and saw that the replica was now sporting two claw marks on its own face. It took only a moment for the significance of what just happened to reveal itself to Charle.

"I see, since they are mirror images of us they can also be reflected back upon themselves!" Charle used the hand mirror like a weapon, making sure the glass side was always facing her copy. It tried to parry the attacks but to no avail, its own magical properties were working against it and it could not even defend itself against the reflective surface. Charle doubted the mirror walls themselves would have the same effect since the fake had been created from them but because the hand mirror was a separate mirror that was not being used for the magical cloning, it worked wonderfully against them.

With a final bat from the mirror she managed to swat her poor imitation into the wall where it crumbled off the wall and down onto the floor. "Whew, never thought I'd be saved by the enemy's mirror." Charle looked over to Wendy and saw the bad one push Wendy to the ground. Wendy looked up in fear, her tiny lips trembling as her alter readied to pummel her with an Air Dragon Howl.

"Wendy!" Charle yelled out to her as she flung the mirror into Wendy's trembling hands which automatically clasped onto the handle and held the mirror in front of her like a shield as she squeezed her eyes shut against the impending attack. The wind tornado ripped out from the replica's mouth, struck the mirror, and turned back upon its user, flinging it across the room from the force of the wind. Wendy opened her eyes in puzzlement as she saw her other self smashed against the far wall. "Charle!" She managed as her constant companion flew toward her side.

"Sheesh you can't do anything without me can you?"

"I'm glad you are all right Charle! And thanks for saving me too." Wendy grabbed Charle into a warm embrace which at first took her by surprise but soon Charle could not help but smile as her face was forced into Wendy's chest.

"There there, at the moment though," Charle turned business like as she pushed herself off of Wendy's chest, "we should clean out the rest of the rubbish." They both turned to look at the Wendy replica; it had a crack that travel from the top of its head to the left side of its chin, revealing the true nature of the mirror clone.

"Right!" Wendy wiped away some tears and glared at the image with Charle, "it is time for this to end! Power of the Stout Arms that Tear Heaven! ARMS!" Wendy could feel the power rise in her good arm as she started to run at the fake along with Charle who she passed the mirror to, "let's do this Charle!"

Before the two Wendy's could connect Charle got in front of the fake and used the mirror to deflect its fist and then flew out of the way. The force of the reflected attack caused the apparition to stumble and Wendy dove in for her most powerful attack yet. Her magically empowered fist dug into her fake's stomach and what sounded like a bunch of dishes breaking could be heard. The anti-Wendy flew back and exploded, throwing glass shrapnel everywhere, some of which hit Wendy and Charle. The glass hurt but the fight was now over.

"Whew…it's done, Charle." Wendy sat down to catch her breath and gingerly started to take out the pieces of glass that were stuck in her skin.

"Yes, well done Wendy. Well done."

**Author's Note: So of course I did not get started on this chapter until after Thanksgiving so sorry if I gave any of you false hopes. Any case finally the fights are actually breaking out though I decided not to actually start the two main fights since I am sure both Natsu's and Erza's battles are going to be a lot longer than these three 'side' fights. Well have fun reading this chapter until next time. I'm a little tired of writing fights so it could be awhile before I get started on the next chapter. One thing I can say, this chapter was a lot longer than my last one. Well, Later!**


	6. True Strength

**Bold Type = Twins speaking together**

Chapter 6 – True Strength

"You think you can defeat C so easily Titania? Remember this is a fight between S-class mages and I am sure you can fathom C's power just by looking."

Erza's eyes widened slightly in shock as her downward slash was blocked by none other than her own sword. Steel clashed against steel and she could see that her opponent had ex-equipped both her armor and weapons; although, slightly modified to keep the outfit gender neutral, since C wore pants instead of a skirt and the chest area was decidedly smaller, it was still for all intents and purposes her own magical equipment.

Erza leapt back as soon as her feet touched the ground and narrowed her eyes at her smiling opponent. "I can see that your codename fits the description of what you can do quite accurately." She lowered her sword close to the ground and started to circle her opponent while C did the same thing back

"Indeed, I'm sure you can understand just how devastating this magic is." Erza re-equipped into her Heaven's Wheel Armor which C instantly copied though of course modified to fit C's body. "The stronger you become the stronger C becomes!" Arming another sword in her free hand, Erza broke from her circling pattern to charge at her opponent who at the exact same time mirrored her actions perfectly using the exact same movements she did. Erza swung out with her right arm for a slash across the front and C did the same with thing but unlike a mirror, or a mime, C's right arm did the exact same thing as well so it was closer to copying than mirroring. Unfazed in the slightest, Erza followed up with stab with her left sword toward C's face while their other swords were occupied but that too was copied and both were forced to jerk their heads to the side to avoid their respective sword points. Erza's face was a mask of resolve but C looked to be enjoying the fight as they once again separated from each other by a few feet.

"Of course C is not limited to just copying you." This time C was the one to strike with a low swipe at Erza's legs. Erza brought one sword down to block the attack and at the same time started a summersault by pushing down on the sword blocking the attack to propel her body into the air. As she came flipped over, while she was upside-down and facing C she lashed out to try and wound C in the back. C easily turned to counter the twirling Titania and simply mirrored her attack so blade clanged against blade and a second later Erza had touched the ground and spun around to face her foe. "I can also mirror you as I see fit and at whatever time I choose."

"Of course you cannot mirror me all the time or neither of us will get anywhere. Since all we would be doing is exchanging blows or blocking everything." Erza pointed out to her adversary to which C merely laughed.

"Well C supposes so but as you could see in our last sword exchange C can turn it off and on as C sees fit in order to make sure that only you will be the one on the receiving end of your blade. It must be tough to have oneself being beaten by their own magic; in fact it is such a shame for so many of C's victims that they forgo magic altogether. C finds great enjoyment in watching them fall into despair."

"I see, so you enjoy making people suffer, you are just as terrible as the taskmasters of the Tower of Paradise. Also you dared to lay a hand on a member of Fairy Tail and that I can never forgive!" Magical power gathered around Erza and C did the same as they both started to make swords materialize in the air, each sword brought out by Erza as countered by the exact same thing from C.

"No matter how much you set against C, C will give the exact same thing right back!" Soon a dozen swords each were arrayed against each other and of course since the entire room had mirrors all around, the vast amounts of reflections made it seem like a steel storm was about to begin, which probably was not very far from the truth. As the two S-class forces stared each other down Erza cleverly materialized a saber behind C's head, making sure it was in a position that would make it hard to be seen since they were focusing their attention on each other. Suddenly the waves of swords shot out at each other and the horrific banging of magical weapons impacting upon each other created a great clamoring but of course Erza already knew none of the forward blades would do anything but the blade behind C would be the deciding factor in the upcoming attack. A split moment after the two armies of sharp edges started knocking each other down she shot the blade at the back of C's head.

That brief second seemed to last a long time and it seemed as if her opponent was unaware of the approaching blade point but then at the last moment C's head lurched to the side and the saber passed harmlessly by. "Did you think if C could not see it C would not be able to mirror it, seriously you are-" C was cut off short, forced to jerk his body to the side to avoid a thrown saber and narrowly avoided the blade but the hilt did manage to hit C's left arm. "When did you!" C cursed and held a hand on the spot when the hilt had connected.

"I see it is as I thought. I did hope that I could have ended the battle right there but then it would have been a disgrace to know that an S-class mage, even an enemy, could fall so easily. Your magic is truly formidable but as I surmised it is possible to circumvent. While your mirroring magic was being used even if you could not see it you could still mirror my moves perfectly; however, when you dodged the saber I launched at your back you had to break your concentration so while you were smugly avoiding my sneak attack I knew that there was a saber aimed at my head as well. You just let my saber fly harmlessly by but instead of just letting your weapon scratch my cheek I managed to grab it as it went past and redirected it straight toward you while you were distracted, it is after all my magic originally. Every magic has some weak point and I have discovered one of yours, it takes quite a bit of concentration to use."

"Well C supposes C should have expected no less from the famed Titania but sadly you are only-half right in your deduction. You see it doesn't take C's _full _concentration and C can mix things up rather easily." C lifted up a hand and pointed with the middle and index finger at a spot near Erza's feet and with an evil smile uttered, "Shatter!"

Erza followed the invisible line C's fingers made and saw a small glass orb sitting on the ground that C had managed to throw without her knowledge during their sword contest. Erza let instinct take over, her arms crossed over to cover her face and she leapt back as the small orb exploded into over a thousand shards, which pelted the surrounding area and hit Erza all over her body. Major damage was averted but there were more than a few glass pieces that had managed to stick themselves into the spots were Erza's skin was exposed. She very quickly removed the glass while she had the time so they would not get in the way as she fought.

"As you can see, C can even mix things up as we fight so you'll be the one taking more hits than C ever will!" C laughed while Erza glared back and then suddenly charged. Once again the two opponents clashed against each other and fierce fighting started to resound through the room.

* * *

A dragon's fist repelled Natsu's with exactly the same force and power. Already in fighting mode, Natsu kicked out with his right foot but I simply copied the move so both of their legs blocked the other and the force pushed them apart. "How are you using my attacks? There is absolutely no way Igneel taught someone like you!" Natsu pointed accusingly at I with a look of extreme annoyance.

I just shrugged and smiled, "Oh of course not dragon slayer, this is after all my first time meeting one of your kind. I is sure you can figure it out since I is known as one of the Mirror Twins." I explained rather sure the Salamander would understand. Natsu scrunched his eyebrows together in thought as the ember of thought tried to start a bonfire.

"Oh! Because you like to look at yourself in the mirror a lot, right?" I's mouth dropped open in utter astonishment at Natsu's deductive process.

"How the heck did you come to that conclusion? Do you think I stand in front of the mirror all day admiring myself!" I shouted out with quite a bit of anger, then took a deep breath and calmed down, though very quickly almost lost it again when Natsu responded back, "well you do seem kind of strange."

I managed to hold on by expelling a lot of hot air, "Hardly, I has the ability to completely copy your magic, down to its very basic structure. At this moment I is now a dragon slayer the same as you Natsu Dragneel!"

"Pft, as if you could control the same flames as me. There is no way to simply pick up what Igneel taught me!" Natsu took in a deep breath and released his Roar of the Fire Dragon, spewing flames toward I who mirrored the move back, the two flame waves crashed into each other and merged into a giant fireball which exploded, sending debris of fire in all directions.

"Heh, I told you already, now that I has mirrored you, I is you!"

"How the heck are you me! You don't look a thing like me! There is no way I have such a soft looking face like yours!"

"Soft looking! Why you! I means I has your dragon slayer abilities! Obviously I does not want to have such droopy eyes like yours!"

"Squinty eyes! You're sounding a little too much like a flame based Gray there and that's just firing me up!"

"Oh interesting, your emotions are actually making you stronger, well I guess I'll have to thank you for the power boost." Flames shot out from all over both their bodies as the flames grew more intense by the second until it was almost a pillar of flame surround them. Almost as quickly as it started though they both stopped which puzzled I a bit.

"By the way, who is that guy over there and why is he just casually leaning against the wall?" I looked around toward a corner of the room and saw Takeshi propped up against the wall, observing both of them. Noticing he was being looked at, Takeshi casually waved back at them.

"Don't mind me; I'm just here to watch over your fight so I can make sure we got our money's worth out of the twins here."

"Hello employer, I did not realize you would be here personally to watch I crush him. I will be sure to put on a good show."

"Your employer huh. Hey plain looking guy! I'll be sure to come after you next! Right after I smoke this guy with my flames!" Natsu flexed his fingers as he prepared to attack.

"Oh by all means Salamander please show me how you plan to beat someone who has your own powers. Come to think of it, don't you mean roast?" Takeshi looked rather bored in the corner and looked at his nails.

"Wings of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu's arms erupted with flames that flared outward to create a shape that looked very much like a pair of fiery wings as he rocketed forward toward I who instantly mirrored it. "I!" Natsu roared out I's name and when the pair were about to clash Natsu suddenly stopped and all his flame disappeared. I did not know what to expect as he had sensed nothing through his mirroring magic so he continued the attack and used the momentum to carry him over Natsu and land several feet away.

"What are you up too?" I propped his fists up, ignited with dragon slayer flames not sure why Natsu had stopped his attack. Natsu whirled around with a raging and annoyed look on his face.

"Why the heck do you have such a lame name? It sounds so stupid to yell out your name in a fight that I lost all the feelings I had behind that attack!"

"What the – how dare you make fun of my name like that! I will show you who is lame Salamander!" I rushed forward and rammed his fist into Natsu's stomach with great force, "Heh, how do you like that!"

Natsu stood there for a brief moment, taking the full force of the blow with rather wide eyes. In an instant that all changed as a rather crazy looking smile took over his face and he grabbed I's arm. "Let's see you copy me now!" I quickly realized he was in a bad position and tried to dislodge Natsu's grip with a flaming kick to the side, but Natsu's free arm easily blocked it. With I's free hand I managed to place a glass ball under Natsu's feet to roll behind him. "Fire Dragon Head Butt!" Natsu smashed his skull against I's who tottered back under the blow as Natsu let go of I.

I fell down on one knee and placed a hand on I's forehead where Natsu's thick skull bashed it. "That was just a regular head butt! Don't give fancy names to stuff like that!"

"Ha ha ha! That's what you get for having such a pathetic name!"

I's eye, that was not covered by I's hand, shot daggers at Natsu and his lips moved to utter a simple word, "Shatter!"

"Gah!" Natsu cried out as many shards of glass ripped into his back, "What kind of move was that!" Natsu reached back and pulled out a clump of glass with his hand and threw it on the ground. "That hurt dang it!" Natsu's heat intensified with anger and the rest of the glass melted away under the extreme heat and fell down into small puddles of liquid glass that steamed red hot. "Now I'm really flared up!" His arms and legs were covered in flames that could rival even Hell's fires. "I'll definitely defeat you!"

I forced the hand on the eye down to be able to effectively mirror Natsu's strikes. Fiery fists, arms, and legs smashed into each other as the fighting grew ever more intense, to the watch the fight would be akin to seeing two fireballs circle around each other while continuously striking. Natsu attempted to eat some of I's fire but instantly spit it out, "Why does your fire taste exactly the same as mine! I can't eat this!"

"Like I told you Salamander, I is you! Glass Spear!" I suddenly materialized a spear of glass during a small break in their fighting and threw it toward Natsu's chest. Natsu tried to avoid it but was too close and it pierced him through his left shoulder and then I's own Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon pegged Natsu in the head which sent him flying back. "How does I's punishment feel Salamander! I has all of your abilities, can copy your every move, and even throw in I's own for good measure! I has you completely outmatched!"

Natsu gritted his teeth from his new position on the floor and stood back up looking as if he had just had his butt handed to him in a fight with Erza, the glass spear protruding from his shoulder. With a grunt he plucked the spear out and it turned red in his hand and started to melt. Quickly he heaved it over his head and let the liquid glass fall into his mouth as he ate it, while I could only look on with mild shock. "Well since I cannot eat your flames directly I guess I'll just have to make do with this." The flames which had been steadily growing dimmer on his body once again reignited with a fierce brilliance which almost made the mirrors cry out in pain at having so much light being reflected off their surfaces. "Your magic sure isn't very tasty."

"Well congrats on your temporary recharging Salamander but remember, I can copy everything you do. I won't even have to eat anything." I's flames grew to the same brilliance as Natsu and the two fires stared each other down. _"Just how much endurance does this guy have? Even stronger mages would usually already be near their last legs of strength by now."_ I grumbled, getting annoyed that Natsu was still ready to fight even at such a disadvantage. "Why do you not just give up Dragneel? No matter what you do you cannot defeat me with your prided dragon slayer strength since no matter how strong my opponent is I will always be equal and even a step ahead of them. If you are trying to wait for help from your friends I highly doubts that they have survived the traps I and C have planted for them, they should all be defeated by now."

"Heh, you know, I've fought a lot of high guys like you who think they know everything but in the end they could never defeat Fairy Tail! No matter powerful you get I'll still beat you down! You have no idea of how great a place Fairy Tail is and you even dared to pick a fight with us so I will never forgive you! All of Fairy Tail is my family: Master, Lucy, Gray, Wendy, Levy, Erza, they are all irreplaceable to me but you have no one like that! I'll show you the true meaning of what it means to become an enemy of Fairy Tail!" As Natsu spoke his flames continued to grow stronger and more radiant and soon even started to reach the roof as Natsu's anger continued to boil over.

"Oh please, I is not afraid of anything you can threaten me with as I'll just match you power for power dragon slayer!" I mirrored Natsu precisely and smirked as they both grew in power. Then it happened, I's flames reached their peak intensity and just stopped growing but Natsu's continued to gain in strength. The observer, Takeshi looked on with a rather plain expression but his eyes betrayed the interested spark that shone from them while Natsu's power started to dominate over I's.

"W-What is this! Why can't I's power match his? I should be able to copy anyone's magic!" I's confident smirk faded as dragon scales started to appear in a few places around Natsu's eyes and on his arms. "This is impossible! So this is…Dragon Force!" Flames angrily swirled around Natsu's body in a way that made it look way too much like it was actually alive.

"Well it would appear that you were not worth the money after all." Takeshi droned to himself as he watched Natsu leap toward his enemy with all the savage ferocity and strength of a true dragon.

"I does not lose!" I shouted in defiance toward the coming fire storm and once again mirrored Natsu's every move, this time when the two forces collided though it was quite easy to see that Natsu now had the upper hand by the way I was thrown back. I managed to land standing, though only by sliding about a meter back and started to shoot glass shards and spears at Natsu. The occasional glass shard managed to hit Natsu but most simply vaporized before contact. I could feel a cold sweat on fear start to surface, _"This is insane, I is being pushed back! I-I needs C's help! Surely C has finished off the Titania by now!"_ I dashed for the mirrors separating the two fights from each other and started to dissolve the magical mirrors so that C could help fight the blazing dragon slayer. "C!" I shouted in a panic as Natsu prepared for the finishing blow.

"Dragon Slayer Secret Arts. Crimson Phoenix Sword!" Waves of flame washed over Natsu's powered up fist as he ran toward the panicking Mirror Twin.

* * *

Erza was a spectacular fighter who knew how to think in a fight and had been able to get a few shallow hits in through clever counterattacks but overall the fight was not in her favor. C was able to block almost all of her moves and the fact that he was able to quite easily slip in some glass magic or change up a move rather quickly on the fly, Erza had more than a few cuts in various spots on her body. Also any armor she changed into C would copy down to a T, except modified to fit C in a non-gender kind of way.

Erza equipped her Giant's Armor, yellow and with a much larger right arm she threw with all her might the spear that came with it, "Lance of Haja!" The lance sailed through the air and with a great clang, rammed into the exact same lance that was thrown by C. Sparks flew as they clashed together and fell harmlessly to the ground.

"Isn't it great Titania? C will admit you have some skill and reflexes to have been able to actually wound C in this fight but frankly C just out-classes you in every way possible. No matter what you do you will never be able to find a way to beat me! Shatter!" Once again another glass orb exploded, this time over Erza's head. Quickly she materialized a rather large sword to block a vast majority of the shards but as usual a few managed to strike her. "Oh what it must feel like to have your own magic used against you." C laughed and threw a regular spear at Erza with the Giant's Armor. Erza ducked out of the way and she could hear the sound of the spear zinging through the air past her head.

Erza could feel the fatigue in her body and the various cuts and bruises she had developed over the fight were accumulating in pain. Her forehead was perspiring and her breathing had started to get rather heavy, at the rate they were going there was no doubt who the winner would be and it would not be her. "I suppose it is about time I got truly serious and show you one of my strongest armors, Purgatory Armor!" Erza's hair turned completely wild and a devilish looking black and gray, jagged looking armor covered her body as if she was a guard of the underworld. "It is time for you to despair!"

C grinned at Erza's apparent stupidity, "Well I must thank you for taking out one of your strongest armors this will make things much easier for me!" Once again C took Erza's armor and copied it in C's unique style. Both combatants took out what looked like a giant slab of blackened steel but was really just a gigantic sword. When the two forces struck an explosion of air pressure blew throughout the room and the mirrors strained under the pressure. "Such power! C always knew your reputation Erza but this is absolutely incredible! C sure wishes C could keep this incredible armor for all time but C will have to make do with the here and now."

The two knights fought with all their ferocity, making it a wonder that the room was still holding itself together even when the force of essentially two tidal waves were smashing into each other. C attempted to pierce Erza with an icicle of glass but it merely broke on the powerful armor so C had to be content with just mirroring and throwing in the occasional twist. Erza jumped up into the air to come crashing down with the force that rivaled having a ton of steel bars deposited on someone's head. C leapt out of the way, not bothering to use the mirroring technique and the ground where Erza struck completely gave way. Blocks of floor flew in various directions, making C have to swipe some of the debris out of the way.

"You seem to be getting tired Erza! C wonders how much longer you can keep such a high grade as your equip!" C teased and then counterattacked by dashing forward and using a wide horizontal slash. Erza was forced to block it and was flung back a few feet but she managed to stay firm on her toes. Her breath was more ragged than ever and C watched her struggle with glee. "C's name will be famous after I beat you Titania!" Erza composed herself and stood up straight and looked back at her foe rather impassively then she ex-equipped her armor out for the Robe of Yuen. The beautiful kimono like cloth draped over her loosely, leaving her looking a little exposed in several places and in her hands was a Naginata, a pole weapon with a curved blade on the end. This time C did not change with her and instead kept the Purgatory Armor.

"Well looks like C was right! C can tell that clothing of yours is not even half as powerful as this Purgatory Armor. C guesses it is about time for you to feel despair." With an evil grin, C stepped toward Erza and raised the giant cleaver while Erza held the Naginata out to the side and readied for battle. Erza struck first and managed a glancing blow to the chest but the Purgatory Armor stood firm. "Time to die Erza Scarlet!" C shouted and tried to crush her with the large weapon but Erza gracefully somersaulted backward and avoided the crushing weight. Erza then started to run rather quickly sideways to try and get around C but the mirroring magic kicked in and C was running right along with Erza. "Remember I can do everything you can!" C laughed as Erza attempted to stab out at C but C stabbed out with the large sword as well causing Erza to have to move back to avoid it.

They continued their speedy run across the room as Erza attempted to swing out with her weapon as C copied the same thing as well. They seemed to be caught in an epic dance but interestingly enough even though C was mirroring everything Erza did, as well as the occasion glass magic attack which Erza managed to either block or avoid; their respective weapons never actually hit each other since Erza was always just slightly faster. Erza's eyes narrowed as her theory was proven. They suddenly both stopped their sideway run and faced each other. Erza's eyes flashed with resolve as she drove toward her foe while C did the same thing. C's eyes gleamed with victory, knowing that Erza's power would be no match when the two of them clashed. At the very last second before the tip of the Naginata met the tip of the very large blade, Erza ever so quickly jerked her weapon to the side and then press the blade tip into the flat end of C's blade, which pushed Erza to the left but kept C's weapon in the same place and as the two passed each other, the Naginata tip screeched across the blade and down to C's right hand and up to C's shoulder in one quick movement, this time the armor did not save C from being hurt.

"Gah! How did you manage to get past C's technique?" C cursed and tried to ignore the pain and the blood that ran from the gash that went all the way from C's hand to the shoulder. "C will kill you for sure Erza Scarlet!" C attempted to turn around quickly to attack Erza while she was facing away but all C managed to do was trip one leg over the other and fell heavily to the floor. "Ugh, C's body feels horrible all over! What is happening! It hurts to move!" C tried to push back up into a standing position but just fell again, tried to stay at least partially up by pushing up with C's hands but the pain in the right made C's formation collapse and C's face and body smashed into the floor. "What did you do to C!"

Erza turned her body slowly and looked down at C's pitiful form. "You brought this upon yourself." C glared back in incomprehension so Erza decided to continue. "You are right that the Purgatory Armor gives you a lot more power than my Robe of Yuen but all that extra power comes at the cost of a lot more magic and weight. I noticed when you were mirroring my movements that I was just slightly faster than you were, which meant that by trying to keep up with my speed you were putting a much greater strain on your own body since you were trying to do exactly the same that I was doing but could not quite do it. You damaged your own body with your reckless movements and now you will no longer be able to use that skill to copy me effectively. You brought your own downfall, it is your loss. I also had to learn that putting faith in only my armor was not enough, learning to put my strength into my heart was required for me to grow and it appears you never learned that lesson." Erza lowered the point of her weapon at C's head who gazed back at her with disbelief.

"No, no! C cannot lose! This is impossible how could C have, but C is not done yet! Shatter!" Wild-eyed, C detonated another glass bomb in Erza's face and used the distraction to get out of the Purgatory Armor and limped over rather rapidly to the wall the separated C from I. "I is done, right? C needs your assistance I!" C touched the wall and it started to dissolve as well. In about a second, a hole had opened up in the wall. C and I were both ragged and beaten and found themselves mirroring each other exactly and looking into each other's eyes.

In perfect synchronization they looked at each other in horror and they both saw the respective Fairy Tail mages in the background coming in for the final blow. **"It can't be, we both lost!"** They both turned their heads just in time to get a final glimpse of their rivals before both Natsu and Erza struck.

Natsu's fist and flames struck I in the stomach while Erza had ex-equipped back in the Giant's Armor, smashing the enhanced fist into C's stomach. The mirror twins instantly lost all their breath as they were forced into each other by the colossal power of two of the strongest mages in all of Fairy Tail. Their heads cracked into each other and they both slumped to the ground, all the while mirroring each other exactly except for the locations of their wounds.

Both Natsu and Erza were breathing heavily as they delivered their final blows. Erza returned to her normal armor while Natsu's dragon scales disappeared as the power of the Dragon Force left his body.

"Erza!"

"Natsu!" The two mages shouted each other's names once they saw each other.

"Man Erza, you look like you took a beating!" Natsu commented noting all the bruises and cuts that lined her body.

"Well you do not look so great yourself Natsu." Erza said back seeing the many cuts and other marks that covered his body as well.

"Well in any case we sure showed them what it means to mess with Fairy Tail!" Natsu gave out a sort of victory roar with flames shooting out of his mouth and into the air like a tiny flamethrower. Erza smiled at his antics, one thing about Natsu was he could always be counted on to protect Fairy Tail and he was also one of the few constants in her life. The smell of victory was short lived as they heard a voice right beside them speak up.

"Twins in the end I see, rather amusing really." Takeshi smirked at the battered bodies of the twins and kicked I over, causing C to collapse back on top of I.

"What do you think you're doing?" Natsu practically growled at the man but it was taking some time for his flames to reheat themselves so he did not strike out yet.

"It was rather fun to observe I admit, I must say I expected them to be able to at least very seriously wound you Erza Scarlet but I can see you live up to your reputation as always."

"And just who are you?" Erza pointed her sword toward Takeshi's neck who did not seem bothered in the slightest.

"Come to think of it I think I've seen you before." Natsu scrunched up his face as he tried to remember the events near the beginning of his battle with I.

"You really forget things quickly don't you." Takeshi sighed inwardly at how bad the Salamander's memory could be.

"Oh that's right! Erza! He is with the guys who paid these Mirror guys here to do their dirty work!" Takeshi was rather thankful he did not have to explain himself again.

"So you are one of the scoundrels who were behind this setup. Why did you make them target mages? Answer me!" It was easy to see that Erza's patience was wearing thin but the legendary fury of the Titania did not faze the man in the slightest, even at sword point. Right then the footsteps of the rest of the group could be heard as they made it to the chamber.

"Natsu, Erza!" Lucy called out with a wave while the other arm was busy helping to support Loretta who looked to be in almost worse shape than Erza. Then Wendy and Charles huffed up from behind them and Wendy stopped, hands on her knees to catch her breath.

"Male Cat!" Charles yelled out when she noticed Happy sprawled out against the wall, who was just starting to recover from his concussion and was attempting to crawl his way toward them. He managed a very weak, "Aye…" as he fumbled his way over.

"Everyone is so hurt, don't worry, I'll start healing right away!" Wendy went over to the closest and most hurt of the group, Loretta, and a green orb glowed in her palms showing that her healing magic was in effect.

"It is rather a pity, I expected more from them as notorious as they were." Takeshi gazed down at the twins with a disappointed look. "Do not worry; I am sure we will meet again somewhere. If you will excuse me there is business I have to attend to." Turning around, Takeshi casually started to walk off.

"Halt!" Erza commanded but the figure did not even acknowledge her presence.

"Hey plain guy! I told you that you were going to be next so prepare to get charbroiled!" Natsu's flames had recovered by now, flaring up his right fist he ran forward, punching Takeshi in the back, and rushed right through his body. "What the!" Natsu quickly turned around and tried using his fire breath on him but the man merely watched with an amused expression.

"Oh stop it already, you cannot hurt me."

"How is that possible?" Loretta questioned as she was being treated by Wendy.

"Why can't I hit you!" Natsu tried more punches and a few spinning kicks but anything that looked like it should have hit him touched only air.

"Well I suppose before I take my leave I might as well give you my name. I am Takeshi, also known as Mirage. It was a pleasure meeting with you so allow me to leave a parting gift." Takeshi took out a small throwing knife from a pants pocket, stabbed the air to the left of him and then ran away, through the mirror wall to get back to the people waiting for him.

Natsu yelled out in pain when Takeshi had stabbed the air and a knife wound appeared on Natsu's right side.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out as she saw the wound and was about to run up to him but Erza had got there first and was already inspecting the wound.

"Natsu! Are you all right?" Erza asked while she tried to see how deep the wound was.

"Dang him! It was like he was trying to kill me!" Natsu grunted as Erza's armored glove touched his side.

"Well I think that was kind of the point Natsu." Lucy said adding her common sense in which would probably be ignored anyway.

"Erza, why didn't you go after him?" Loretta asked the famous female mage who had just finished inspecting Natsu's wound. Erza patted Natsu rather roughly seeing as he was in no real danger which caused Natsu to cringe as pain receptors send that data that something hurt very much indeed to his brain.

"I am afraid none of us are in any position to give chase and considering how Natsu was not even able to touch him I doubt we would be able to catch him anyway."

"Don't worry Natsu-san, I'll heal you next and then Erza-san." Wendy said in her small voice as she finished up with Loretta and hurried over to Natsu, starting with his newest wound.

Lucy stretched her arms and commented, "Well I guess we can call it a day then." They all looked around at the messed up mirror walls and then at the defeated Mirror Twins and nodded. It was time to drop off the trash and then go back for some well-deserved rest.

"But you know while we're all here…we should find someplace to eat!"

"I guess nothing can get you down for very long huh Natsu?" Loretta laughed along with everyone else and everything was well except for quite a few aches and pains of course.

**Author's Note: Well that takes care of the first 'arc' once and for all! The mirror twins are defeated(man was it a pain to try and keep them gender neutral all the time) everyone is beat up, and the mysterious Takeshi makes his escape rather easily. Remind me to never again do a fight scene with someone who's ability is copying or in this case mirroring, it was very hard to make good fight scenes and I frankly was getting quite tired with writing and sincerely hoped to be done soon but of course that did not happen.**

**Well hope you enjoyed this chapter and I think I'll be taking a nice break for a while as I work on other things but I really wanted to finish this fight up so here it is! Well please review if you feel like it, feedback is always appreciated! Hope you've liked reading the story so far! Until next time!**


	7. Evil Schemes and a Farewell

Chapter 7 – Evil Schemes and a Farewell

The surrounding silhouettes danced in the faint light of the small lantern with fireflies in it; of course by dance it just meant that the little light that was there was bouncing around in fairly random directions causing the shades of gray to keep changing. A cricket chirped which was followed by a fairly light crunching sound and then silence once again prevailed. "What was that?" pondered a female voice somewhere in the darkness.

"Sorry but my foot just could not take it anymore…seriously, when the heck is Mirage coming back!" Very quickly the room was not quiet anymore.

"Blast it all where is your patience! We have not been waiting that long!" The one in the center shouted, berating the cricket smasher.

"Oh I'm so sorry your cultishness; it must have been left in that cricket under my boot. It was so small too."

"You really know how to make things bright now don't you." The leader sneered sarcastically under his hood.

"You know I think he is just angry about the cricket," whispered the tall member of the pair to the side of the room down at his smaller companion.

"Even though you piss me off sometimes Mr. Big Toys, I have to agree with you." The short one retorted back. "He always did seem to like small critters for some reason." They both looked at the fireflies in the middle of the room that looked like dazed drunkards that had been locked in a glass cell so that people could laugh at them.

"Well, it would appear you guys have been having some fun while I was gone." A grinning cloaked figure entered the light of the bugs and stood opposite of the guy in the middle.

"So you have come at last Mirage, I trust everything went as planned?"

"Oh for the most part I suppose, I must say I was a bit disappointed in the lack-luster performance of those mirror brats though. They could have at least defeated one of them, preferably Erza Scarlet. It was rather a pity to watch quite frankly; however, the true objective was played out beautifully. Oh yes, it was really rather amazing to watch that Natsu Dragneel, the pure power and ferocity that was unleashed during his, well rather brief use of Dragon Force. It was quite impressive and even caused me to sweat just a little bit. Apparently the Salamander does not have very good control over it yet considering how short his time was using it. Also I do believe it was quite miraculous I was able to witness it at all, it really did seem like a fluke that he even managed to enter his Dragon Force state. I highly doubt he will be able to use it in the near future, unless he somehow receives help of some kind."

"Yes that is all well and good Mirage but how is the magic itself?"

"Well as you thought it might, the Dragon Force state seems to be beyond normal magic entirely and could easily be classified as a type of Lost Magic, like Grimorie Heart's Ultear and her time magic. When I - I'm talking about I the mirror twin not I as in me."

"Ya I did always hate trying to straighten those two out," said the impatient robed figure, interrupting Mirage for a brief moment.

Mirage cleared his throat and continued, "When I attempted to copy Natsu while in that state the mirroring magic was rejected and I was unable to reach Natsu's power. Dragon Slayer magic truly is one of the ancient and forgotten magics."

"Ha ha ha ha! It is just as I thought! Now is the time for us to cast off our cloaks of anonymity and step into the light!" With that being said, the leader cast off his robe and reached up toward the sky as dramatically as possible. Very quickly all the rest of the group followed, though it was still dark so not much could be seen.

"It feels sooo good to be out of that filthy thing," came a honey-smooth voice from a person who was obviously very female even in the dim light.

"Dang straight!" was the angry remark from the perpetually angry and impatient member of the group.

"Ahem, I said **and step into the light**!"

"Oh right, sorry about that." The tall guy, paired with a short girl, reached up and pulled on a dangling cord and instantly the room flashed bright with light and everyone had to blink quite rapidly to get used to the sudden change. Now everyone could be seen for who they were.

The tall guy who pulled the cord was not by any means a large man; while he had plenty of height his body weight seemed to not really be enough for his whole body. He made up for his lack of fat and muscle though by wearing what appeared to be some kind of armor made out of pure crystal which was semi-translucent. In effect, it was rather like wearing a giant prism, as depending on where the light hit the armor body different colors formed making him look a bit like a jumbled and shiny rainbow. He also sported a helmet made of the same material and while looking through it his hair had a variety of hues. A single lock of hair peeked out onto his forehead and one could tell that his hair was actually white, though by no means was he old and in fact appeared to be somewhere in his mid-twenties. his eyes and eyebrows were also white though his skin was an even lighter color, if it were not for his color shading armor it would be easy to tell he was an albino, if he stood in a white room, he might have been able to vanish altogether.

Now the small girl that accompanied him was most definitely what one would call a loli. Small and petite with virtually no womanly curves to see one could easily believe that she was an elementary school student with a rather unique fashion sense. Unlike her albino counterpart she had fairly young and flush looking skin, as some would say like a new-born baby though of course after it has been dried off and all the blood has been removed. She looked especially small since she was standing next to the albino, who at a grand total of 6'7'' looked almost twice her size. With black hair that reached to the back of her knees and black clothes to match, at first glance she looked like a Goth loli but upon further examination it was easy to see that it was more of a classic look. Her dress did not have any lace or frills and in fact almost looked more like a business suit than a dress, the only adornments on it were four glossy black buttons in the front which held the dress together. It was also easy to see that she was not ashamed of her lack of height since her shoes were plain black, flat dress shoes. Why in the world would she trade comfort for a few more inches anyway, was her motto when it came to shoes. She had black eyes, once again being the opposite of her counterpart, and one could tell that she used almost no makeup whatsoever, but her natural face easily made up for that.

Now on the opposite side of the room were the guy who was always impatient and a ridiculously lavish woman.

The man wore what one could only really say was full combat material. If one could get a prize for being the most ready for anything, that guy would easily take the prize and put a survivalist to shame. He wore heavy light brown boots that looked like they could be walked around in for 10 years and not have a dent in them; also his pants were fashioned from a very durable material and were a combination of shades of gray and brown. The pants had pockets almost everywhere there could be one it seemed and from the looks they were all full of something or other. On his waist was what could be called a survivalist belt, made of hard brown leather, with so many compartments it seemed like he could steal an entire kitchen in just the belt alone. Interesting his shirt was just a plain muscle shirt which hugged his body to reveal his super six packs and very muscular body, the kind that seemed to say that if he hugged someone without controlling himself, he might just snap that person in two. Of course on top of his muscle shirt was a dark green vest that seemed as if it could stop an arrow and not even have the outer material show a tear, also like his pants there were many pockets and compartments for various items of a dubious nature. Standing at 6'1'', with a face that looked like it was normal to grapple with grizzly bears on a daily basis, his flint-gray eyes could glare at a leopard and make it think that the role of predator and prey had just been reversed on it.

Now the woman was a ravishing, full accentuated lady who looked like she stole away people's husbands more for the sport of it rather than the money. Every aspect of her seemed to scream out attention, be it out of jealousy or lust it did not matter because in the end attention was everything. With hair a fiery-gold and eyes to match she seemed to brim with passion and complete confidence. She was most definitely a complete package; with face like an angel, smooth tanned skin, well-endowed chest, a slim waist, and long legs, she had been known to tear apart hearts and break apart even the best of relationships with her looks alone. For today she was wearing a red Chinese dress with golden phoenixes wrapping around her body. It was the kind of dress that had the long slits at the side so that absolutely no parts of her wondrous legs were left to the imagination. Also the top of the dress was low-cut to make sure that her chest was very noticeable and captivating. Her long hair was captured into a ponytail but that simple hairstyle could not hide the fact that her hair was silky smooth and extremely healthy. To finish her outfit she wore a pair of red-high heels, that kind that seemed to be made for stepping on people extremely painfully. At a height of 5'7',' without high-heels, she was indeed almost to perfect of a woman for most to take.

The last member of the group, excluding Takeshi and quite a number of low-grade guild members, was the man in the middle who was also their leader. From his looks he was a rather average looking fellow though perhaps not as plain as Takeshi. With a fairly average build and a height of 5'9'' he was someone you could pass on the street and not take a second glance at, at least if it were not for the fact he was wearing a rather unique outfit. The leader wore what could only be described as a rather extravagant headdress that looked a bit like a miniature Japanese shrine of some kind with curved up ends for demons to slide off of. Also attached to the headdress was a heavy black veil which covered his face completely and it was rumored he had been in a rather terrible accident so he was horribly disfigured but not even his nakama knew exactly what was under there. He wore a multi-layer kimono, like the kind an emperor might wear, which had patterns of white chrysanthemums dotting a sea of blue and green, as if to say that if you ever got on his bad side, the person who had angered him would know without a doubt the meaning of grief. In his case clothes really did make the man.

"You know, I do believe that the dark robe rather improved your image Xing-fu," came the snide comment from the rather voluptuous woman to their leader.

"That is not very amusing Davine," Xing-fu shot back, "though I must admit I am a bit loath to part with it."

"Come on! Enough waiting around! We've wasted enough time already!" said the impatient guy, whose throat almost seemed to growl.

"Now, now Brax, you know it will still take some time before we can truly move out." Xing-fu reprimanded.

The next to speak up was the tall guy to his small female companion, "Say Irene, do you think you can achieve what you seek with the Salamander's power?"

Irene smirked back up at him, "But of course Yashe, if what Takeshi said is true the time would finally be upon us!"

"Yes, a worthy side-goal indeed but we must remember what objectives take priority." Xing-fu warned the couple, who everyone knew they were but of course they never admitted it themselves. "While we are obviously an extremely powerful guild there is still a need for a few more chess pieces to make sure we have the necessary requirements for our conquest to take place. Once that is complete my Xin Dynasty will be unstoppable!"

"Indeed Xing-fu that day will come upon us soon." Davine nearly purred which caused Brax to reflexively cringe.

"I have told you before how much I hate you right?"

"Oh Brax, you really need to learn to curb your jealous streak. I know how much it infuriates you that I only have love for Xing-fu." Davine flipped her hair with one hand and smiled demurely at Brax.

"Stuck up broad, I doubt anyone could fall for a-" He was about to say something unpleasant when suddenly his throat was cut off by the grip of two slim hands.

"Now, now Brax, you know how much I abhor such language." She left go and despite his lack of oxygen, Brax managed to stand up and glare at her before taking a long, controlled breath instead of the expected gasp just to show he did not care in the least what she thought.

"Ok enough bickering; it is time for us to capture some pieces for our game." Xing-fu lifted up his arms in a dramatic fashion and allowed magic power to flow out of his palms. "The Xin Dynasty will soon rise to power and the world will bow down at our feet! And soon the magic council will be crushed under our soles as we strive for a glorious age of power and conquest!"

* * *

Loretta looked around Erza's apartment one last time just to make sure she had left nothing behind. She had been staying with Erza for about a month and a half and by now she had managed to recover everything that had been destroyed during their first encounter, which admittedly had not been much to begin with. She had to admit she had been stalling on getting everything back since she had been enjoying her time with the guild. It was doubtful she would find such a welcoming place ever again.

Satisfied that she had managed to retrieve everything, she shouldered her new pack that contained everything she owned. "Well I guess that's that! I can't believe it but I do believe I will miss this place, except for that." Loretta eyed that strange tutu-swan hybrid with the utmost suspicion, if she ever returned she would definitely have to ask Natsu what he was thinking by getting such a strange thing as a present. With one last longer-than-a-mere-moment glance back she left Erza's pad for the last time and soon found herself heading down to the Guild Hall where undoubtedly everyone was waiting to send her off. There had been quite a few pleas for her to remain for a bit longer or even join the guild but she felt there was no way she could stay in one place so long while Silvaria was still missing.

Loretta walked through the Guild Hall entrance and was instantly greeted by what seemed to be the whole Guild.

"Hey there girlie! It was fun to get to know ya!"

"If you ever come back go on a team mission with me."

"You are quite a man Loretta. I make a man's promise to welcome you back anytime."

There were so many guild members sending her off it was almost overwhelming but there were of course those few people who stuck out like lions among a flock of sheep that knew they would not get eaten. Of course there was one who stood out in a completely different way.

"Well Loretta it was good to have you around." Gray reached out a hand to her and she could see the rather distressed look of a woman with blue-hair.

"G-Gray-sama."

"Hum? What is it Juvia?" Gray asked, in his usual oblivious state to where his attire was.

"Well Gray I do believe you are a little underdressed." Loretta commented slyly while she shook his hand. Gray raised a puzzled eyebrow and then looked down.

"Where are my clothes?" Gray shouted as he jumped back a little. Loretta laughed at his antics as Juvia somehow managed to get his scattered attire while Gray put it back on.

"Hey Loretta! Promise me that when you get back we'll fight each other!" Natsu stepped up to her and raised a clenched, burning fist. "Make you sure you tell me anything you hear about dragons since it just might be Igneel."

"Well while I am searching for Silvaria I'll make sure to keep an eye out for Igneel as well; also, Metallica and Grandine." Out of the corner of her eye she could see Gajeel sitting alone in the back with a fairly grim look on his face, he gave no acknowledgement to her except for a small grunt and he made sure to look in a direction away from her.

The next to greet her face-to-face was the glorious red-headed Titania who looked as imposing as ever in Loretta's mind despite her pleasantly thin smile. "I am glad I was able to offer you a room to make up for the belongings you lost the first time we met. It was a pleasure to become acquainted with you Loretta. You had better come back to visit." Erza struck out a gauntlet which Loretta quickly accepted for fear of being too slow for the impatient knight.

"Of course I will! After all Fairy Tail deserves to have someone as great as me pop by every now and then."

"Loretta-san…" Loretta heard Wendy's timid voice and soon Loretta had squatted down so she was the same height as the young female dragon slayer.

"Hey Wendy, it was especially a pleasure to get to know a fellow female dragon slayer. It is nice to know that I am not the only one." Loretta grinned widely, showing her pearly whites as she gave the blue-haired girl a friendly pat on the head.

"Y-ya, Loretta-san it was fun to get to know you as well." Wendy responded rather sheepishly, looking a little down-ward and glancing up from time to time to look at the older girl. "I'll miss having you around." Wendy could not stop her eyes from starting to mist up at the implication of not being able to see Loretta for a while.

Charle tried to comfort her, though she was not the best at it. "Now Wendy, stay strong and stop looking so sad. After all it is not like we will never see her again."

"Charle is right Wendy; you should stay strong and see me off with a happy face!" Loretta pushed off her knees as she stood up. "Don't worry; I'll be sure to come back some day. You'll have to train hard Wendy if you want to catch up with me!" Loretta winked as she pointed to herself. "Well I can't say I'm one for long good-byes and besides, the sooner I leave the sooner I'll return ya know? I'll never forget you all; now all that's left is to leave in style!" Loretta's body tensed up like a coiled spring as she started collecting sound waves throughout her body and just a few seconds later she was gone, leaving behind only a sonic boom that managed to bowl over quite a few guild members who were not prepared for the blast.

Wendy found herself staring at the spot her new friend had been only a moment before, "Loretta-san…" Wendy felt a fairly heavy weight on her shoulder where Erza had placed her hand.

"Do not worry about her. I am sure we will see her again in the near future. The bonds of a dragon slayer are quite strong after all." Erza's words had a weight to them which rivaled her gloved hand as if to say there was a hidden meaning to her comment. If one had been looking at Erza's face they would have noticed her glancing in a certain, pink-haired dragon slayer's direction.

"Yes…I'll make sure to do my best!" Wendy nodded vigorously and she wiped away the tears and she moved out from under Erza's hand. "I'll be sure to become someone people can count on like Loretta-san!" Wendy pivoted around, causing her dress to twist and sway slightly. "Natsu-san!"

"Eh? What is it Wendy?" Natsu asked rather obliviously to Wendy's honest and determined face. At the moment the crazed fire-beast was confused as to what the small healer wanted.

"Natsu-san, I want you to train me to be a better dragon-slayer!" The entire room grew silent as various degrees of surprise and even shock could be seen in the room.

Makarov felt a chill down his spine as the implications of what had just been requested fully registered in his head. "This could very well be the end of Fairy Tail." Makarov mused to himself as he looked to a stack of complaint letters the council had compiled that was at least as tall as he was. No doubt even more would be on their way soon enough.

**Author's Note: You'll have to forgive me for taking so long and admittedly I have no idea when I'll be able to write the next chapter, things have been rather hectic. As you can probably tell this chapter is shorter than most and is more of a transitional chapter so sorry if it is not very exciting; however, I must say and I am excited for the day I am able to put the villians in action since I've already thought about their powers and whatnot. Well hopefully this can at least wet your appetite for the coming chapters.**

**On a side note I am a little sad to let Loretta go for the moment but I figured it would be easier for me to focus on canon characters for now and it is not like this is the last time you'll see her. Next chapter is going to involve a Dragon Slayer attempting to teach, let's hope I have the brain power to be able to write it. XD**


	8. Natsu's a Teacher?

Chapter 8 – Natsu's a Teacher!

All of Fairy Tail was in a particularly chatty mood that morning as people discussed the most recent event, that of Natsu Dragneel agreeing to teach Wendy Marvell how to fight as a dragon slayer. Needless to say there were quite a few conflicting views on the subject, some thinking that it was a good idea from Wendy to learn from the more experienced Natsu while others certainly had their doubts as to what Natsu was actually going to be teaching their newest, cute member. Makarov certainly was a bit uneasy about the whole affair and wished fervently that Wendy was not going to gain Natsu's bad habit of causing massive collateral damage of public property.

A certain group of mages consisting of Lucy, Lisanna, Erza, and Juvia had gotten together to discuss the current events of the day.

Lucy started them off: "I must say it was quite a shock when Wendy asked Natsu to teach her. I find it hard to think about Natsu actually trying to teach anybody! I mean he almost always runs on instinct and never thinks things through!" Most of them had to agree on that point.

"Juvia has to agree with Lucy, even if she is my rival."

"How many times do I have to tell you I am not your rival in love!" Lucy knew that was coming but she still resented it anyway.

"I am sure Natsu will be able to pull it off." Erza nodded with closed eyes and a knowing smile. Everyone else had to wonder exactly why she could say that.

"Juvia does not understand how Erza can think like that." Juvia responded with quite plain puzzlement. Before Erza could respond back Gray arrived on the scene. "Oh Gray-sama!"

"Hey Juvia," Gray shot back quickly then went on, "so am I guessing correctly that this conversation is about a certain idiot who could easily fry a fish just by getting angry who is actually trying to teach?"

"Ha ha, yes I suppose you're correct." Lisanna laughed and shut up after Erza gave a polite cough which instantly made everyone fell silent in fear.

"As I was saying I believe Natsu will be able to teach Wendy quite well. After all," Erza paused her speech to slip a gloved hand through her silky red hair and rested her other hand on her chest while her hair fell back into place. She seemed to literally shine. "I was the one who taught Natsu how to read and write and it turned out well." Gray's face was the first to become a mask of horror. "As long as Natsu remembers how I taught him I am sure he can do the same." Everyone else's faces quickly followed suit as they all had a very good idea of how Erza's teaching sessions had gone. There was not a single thought that did not include some sort of pain.

The only person to recover in less than a second was Lisanna who seemed to have entered her own little world. "Ah it's such a picturesque scene, Natsu teaching our daughter how to be a good mage." Everyone around her could have sworn that there were little hearts floating above Lisanna's head.

Gray frowned as he thought about the scene Lisanna had described in her own world. A little method of subtraction in his head, Wendy's age from Lisanna's and suddenly Gray felt a little sick, it was also one of the few times that he actually felt a slight chill. "I should never have started thinking right then," Gray said as he pinched his nose as though he had a migraine coming on.

Lisanna's revelry was sharply interrupted by Erza's armored fist, which thankfully only tapped her lightly, meaning that she was soon on the floor. "Ow, what was that for Erza!"

"I believe we should stick to topic at hand and now allow ourselves to be sidetracked, admittedly though there is not too much else to discuss." Erza replied calmly as if she had never knocked Lisanna to the ground at all.

"Just imagining and thinking about it is going to drive me crazy!" Lucy sounded like she thought the guild had been magically turned upside down or something. "I say we should all go out and watch Natsu and Wendy train! I might even be able to get some inspiration for my story!"

"Juvia agrees with Lucy, though Juvia cannot see Lucy's writing skills improving."

"How could you know what my writing is like!"

"Juvia has to know everything about her rival in love so I snuck in while you were away. Juvia has to be wary since while Juvia was there Juvia saw Lucy's rather intim-"

Lucy very quickly managed to shut Juvia's mouth before she could continue, "That's an invasion of privacy!" She had turned red as a beet and Juvia managed to easily slip out of Lucy's grip due to her watery form.

Gray crashed a fist into a palm with a slight grin, "I'm sure Natsu is making a complete mess out of it so I would not miss this even for a decisive win against that flame head!"

"I want to see my darling Natsu at work! So let's go!" Lisanna raised her hand up in the air along with almost everyone else who gave a decisive shout, and started to clamber for the door when Erza stopped them with one simple command.

"Hold it!" Everyone instantly stopped and turned to look back at Erza who was standing up, arms crossed with a rather stern expression. "Natsu and Wendy do not need a bunch of onlookers to get in the way of their training. Both Natsu and Wendy are quite serious about this and we should also be steadfast and give them their space."

"Oh come on Erza we won't be in the way." Gray protested and very quickly started to fear for his life but Erza did not move.

"Gray is right, Erza; if we just watch from afar we will not get in the way; we can even keep ourselves hidden and watch them secretly!" Lucy tried to convince the Titania with her logic and she seemed to be considering it. "I know you're also interested, Natsu teaching his first student and all."

Erza started to tremble as she tried to sort out what was best along with what she wanted to do. "Well I must admit…" she trailed off and went into a sort of thinking mode with one hand supporting her chin as she started to walk around. After a few seconds of bated breath to see what she would decide, Erza suddenly turned toward the back, walked up to the bar counter. "Mira can you get me that special thing."

"Of course Erza." Mira responded with a smile as she reached behind the counter to pull something up for her. Various possibilities screamed through their minds as to what the special thing could be and involuntarily they all held their breath, unsure of what implement of torture or other nefarious item was going to be produced.

"Here you go! One strawberry cake just for you."

"Thank you Mira, you even added on extra strawberries just how I like it."

Everyone nearly collapsed in surprise but soon a wave of relief came over them and all of them started breathing again simultaneously. Holding the strawberry cake triumphantly Erza walked over to the group. "Now we can go."

"All you needed was cake in order for you to watch with us!"

"Lucy, never underestimate the importance of strawberry cake."

"I see, well then we might as well go!"

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Wendy felt as if she could keel over at any moment. Her hair was a mess, the bands holding up her pigtails had long ago been lost during their workout and dirt covered her clothes. The amount of sweat she had produced from the morning to then seemed like it could have filled three milk cartons already. Breathing heavily she tried once again to imitate Natsu's maneuver. "Iron Fist of the Air Dragon!" Wendy tried to yell as her tiny fist shot through the air, but none of her dragon slayer element appeared to boost her attack. She found herself falling to the ground, just barely managing to keep herself from falling face-first into the ground. Her hands supported her fall but the consequential shock ran up her arms and really hurt her wrists. Hair and sweat fell in front of her face as she breathed heavily.

"Come on Wendy!" Natsu shouted in encouragement as he did another flaming strike into the air. "I know you can do it! After all we're both dragon slayers!"

"I'm sorry Natsu, I-I just can't do it. The only attack I was taught was my dragon breath attack and my air support magic." Wendy managed to push herself back up and fell on her butt with a small and short 'kya'.

"Don't worry Wendy, I know you can learn all the other moves, otherwise why would it be dragon-slayer magic?" Natsu did have a point surprisingly, after all the magic would not be called dragon-slayer magic for nothing and had to include tremendous attack power in order to face the power of a dragon.

"You're probably right Natsu-san." Wendy laid her sore body on the ground and looked forlornly at the sky. "I guess Grandine just never had the time to teach me." The occasional white cloud could be seen sailing through the sky at a lazy pace and Wendy felt as if she might drift off into sleep at any moment so she struggled to stay awake.

Natsu sighed and stopped to look up as well and muttered to himself "Igneel…" a voice that Wendy could just barely hear. Wendy turned to look at Natsu's rather grim but slightly sad face as he remembered the dragon that raised him, just like Grandine did with her. It was unusual to see such a face on the usually flared up Salamander who seemed to run like a continually boiling tea kettle at times. It only lasted for a few moments, and then Natsu showed his sharp canines as he began to grin and shot a fist up to the sky. "One day Wendy we are going to find both our parents and have a grand reunion! Until then let's keep getting stronger so that we'll both be ready for that day so we can make them proud."

The determined look on Natsu's face was full of vigor and hope and Wendy could not help but feel that same hope envelop her like the sun's rays did to her body. It was a marvelous feeling. "Also I need to make sure I'm strong enough to be able to force Igneel to tell me what the heck he's been doing all these years and what was so important for him to leave me behind! Igneel! I'll see you again someday!"

Wendy's mind started to make up scenarios of Natsu trying to fight the great fire dragon Igneel to force him to talk and she could not help but laugh. "Even if you are a dragon slayer Natsu I cannot see either of us beating our parents." Wendy sat up and smiled at Natsu, her aches and pains not forgotten but at least manageable.

"Ya, I know both of our parents are much stronger than us now but one day I intend to surpass even my father! We both have to work hard if we want to catch up to them! Come on Wendy, let's give it another go!"

Forcing herself to her feet, Wendy put on a determined scowl while clenching both her fists. "Yes Natsu-san, or perhaps I should call you sensei?"

"Sensei? Meh that just sounds kind of weird plus I kind of have some bad memories of my sensei." Natsu's thoughts drifted to a time before he could read when Erza took it upon herself to teach him. Recollections of hours of hard work and fierce punishments flashed through Natsu's mind causing his face to darken temporarily.

"Ok Natsu-san. Well then what should we do-" Before she could finish her sentence a loud rumbling sound that sort of sounded like the cross between a train and an avalanche filled the air. Wendy felt her entire face flush up and she quickly turned away from Natsu to hide her face. "I-I'm sorry Natsu, I guess, well I have not eaten nearly all day and it just suddenly hit me all of a sudden."

"Of course!" Natsu slammed a fist into an open palm as a spark ignited his bonfire brain. "A dragon-slayer needs to eat a lot to power up! I'm sure that if we fill ourselves we'll be able to get your dragon slayer abilities fired up! Let's go Wendy, heck I'm starving as well."

"Umm, I'm not really sure if that will help but I am hungry." Wendy said as a sort of mild protest but suddenly she realized Natsu was not even around anymore. Looking frantically she saw Natsu with his scarf billowing behind him making a beeline for the town and the nearest restaurant. "Natsu-san! Wait up!" She called out after him as she hurried to catch up. Without their knowledge a group of curious mages followed the pair.

Inside a fairly decent looking restaurant Wendy had to be a little amazed at how fast the service was. Before she knew it they already had a window booth to themselves and piles of plates of various dishes were already set for the two of them. She could not help but notice the slightly distressed looks on the faces of the employees and it appeared that the object of their distress was the pink haired dragon slayer. "Umm…Natsu-san, do they know you?"

"Oh ya," Natsu started while stuffing his face so that the sentences came in breaks with muffled parts in-between, "I come…quite ofte…so they know what….I like…the ser…vice is great! Strangely…it only happen…ed after…the place got trashed…after some guy…picked a…fight with me."

"Oh I see," Wendy gave a nervous laugh getting the picture right away; they wanted the destructive dragon slayer gone as quickly as possible.

"You better eat up Wendy," she was thankful he had taken a break from eating to talk with her but the table was a bit of a mess, "after all food is a necessity for fighting! Come to think of it Wendy…what does air taste like? I've really wanted to know." Wendy was a bit taken aback by the question but from Natsu she probably should have expected it. She could see his eyes shining with curiosity and anticipation.

"Well I can't really say it's that different from breathing really but I suppose air can have different, well, flavoring?" She was not quite sure how to describe the experience but the word flavoring was obviously the right choice as Natsu still looked interested. "Well for instance Natsu-san you like some flames better than others right?"

"Well of course, the flame's got to be strong and Master does make some pretty good ones."

"Well I cannot say I get as much power out of it as Natsu-san since I'm practically eating air all the time but there are certain kinds that I prefer and gives me more power. Well I would have to say I like smoggy city air the least while, say, the air in a large open field is much better and can have flavors depending on what's growing, like lavender. Mountain air tends to be pretty good as well, especially air in the snow as it has a kind of pure quality to it like filtered water."

"That's pretty cool Wendy, I'd like to be able to taste air as well but I'm sure I'd prefer flames anyway."

"Yes I'm sure you would." Wendy smiled and she ate as well, but after a bit of time her face sort of fell. "I don't know Natsu-san; do you really think I'll be able to use my powers like you and Loretta? We've been trying for so long but I just cannot seem to control my power. I can do my Howl of the Sky Dragon quite easily; I can easily feel that, but those moves you are Loretta use Natsu, I just cannot use the air like that. I can watch you do it but I just don't know what to do!" Wendy grimaced and held her head while Natsu leaned his head back and tried to think, rather loudly.

"Hmmm, I don't know Wendy you just kind of do it." Natsu squinted his eyes as he tried to think, then they opened widely and were almost set on fire. "I know!"

"Huh?" Wendy responded as she slowly set her hands back down.

"I just remembered something that Igneel taught me that should help!"

xxxxXXXXxxxx

**A young Natsu Dragneel tried desperately to use his flames to the fullest but despite a lot of practice he was still getting no closer to unleashing his dragon slayer powers. "Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu shouted and punched with all his might right into the trunk of a tree. "Yeow! That hurt!" Natsu clenched onto his hand with his less pained one and tried blowing on it. "I can do this!" Steeling himself he forced his hands apart and readied his hand again, gritting his teeth while putting on a brave face. "Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Once again his fist careened into the tree but this time it resulted in an explosion of flame, tree, and Natsu who flew back with a cry of pain and fell onto the ground in front of Igneel.**

"**Dang it!" Natsu punched the ground with his fist to get back on his feet and instantly regretted it. "Ow Ow Ow!" Igneel laughed the laugh of a dragon which echoed throughout the mountainside and scared the entire mountainscape half to death, making goats and other critters run around in panic.**

"**I see you are trying hard Natsu." Igneel smiled a full toothed grin and Natsu glared up at his father angrily.**

"**Igneel I just don't get it! Why can't I control my fire like you can? I mean, I'm a dragon slayer now right! I should be shooting flames all over the place."**

"**Oh so you think you can just command the most deadly of flames at your whim?" Igneel questioned Natsu trying to get the impetuous youth to think a little bit.**

"**Well ya! You do it all the time right father?" Igneel let out a smoke ring from his nose with a small huff.**

"**Listen Natsu," The great dragon repositioned himself so that his body partly coiled around the small child and he laid his face right in front of him, "I've met some powerful fire mages who commanded fire but they could never fully control the power and they always hit a wall, usually me admittedly." Natsu sat down cross-legged and put his chin on his less hurt fist and tried to listen but he looked a little restless. "Natsu, what do you think of when you see fire?"**

"**Err I suppose power, heat, burning, explosions…and food!"**

"**Ha ha, yes it is good food to be sure and a great source of power. However Natsu, remember that fire is also violent and very strong-willed, many try to control its power but few are able to effectively utilize it." Igneel, who had looked away for a moment looked back and noticed that Natsu had started to pick his nose and appeared a bit distant.**

"**NATSU!" Igneel roared causing Natsu to jump straight up into the air in fright. "Sit down and listen!" Instantly Natsu shut up, sat down and looked at Igneel attentively. With a snort Igneel continued, "The thing is that many mages and the occasional dragon even, forget that it is not a relationship of a master controlling the elements. It is a partnership; both a dragon and their element share with each other everything to the point that they become one. A dragon is nothing without its element and an element is raw and unformed without the dragon. As a dragon slayer you do not need to control your power but to feel it and become one with it. Once you can do that a bond will be formed that is more powerful than any other force that can be imagined as you learn more about yourself and your power. Grow with that power and learn to listen to it, let it guide but also learn to teach it some new tricks. Do you understand Natsu?"**

**Natsu wrinkled his nose and closed his eyes tightly. "I, I just don't get it Igneel! Listen? Learn? Become one? Arg! It doesn't make any sense!" Natsu ran from there, climbing over Igneel's tail on his way out.**

"**You will figure it out Natsu, I have faith."**

**Hours later and Natsu was still mumbling over the confusing dialogue in his head. "It's not about control? What did Igneel mean by that? Feel it? Share it? I just don't get it!" Natsu gritted his teeth in frustration and slammed his arm against a rock and put his head on it. For some reason his hand felt warm, as if his frustration had all gathered in that one spot. He brought his head back and looked as his hand which just barely had the faint glow of a dim flame. "Hey! I did it!" Natsu yelled in triumph, lifted his hand to the sky, and the small flame was gone. "Hey come back! Come back blast it!" The flame of course did not listen.**

"**Ok come on now, how can I get the flame to listen to me? Come on I'm a dragon slayer, Igneel taught me everything, I just have to listen." Natsu took a deep breath and concentrated deep down inside himself, searching for the power of the dragon. He stood completely still for a whole minute not really sure of what he was trying to find but then he found what he was looking for, the dragon's flame inside him. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!" Natsu's hand flared up with his fire and he could feel his dragon slayer powers flowing through him. "Awesome! It's great! Igneel! Look, I made it! I can use my dragon slayer powers now!"**

**From somewhere a ways off Igneel glowed with pride.**

xxxxXXXXxxxx

"We can see them easily but I really wish I knew what they were talking about. It's too bad Natsu can eat so much or we wouldn't still be here." Lucy sighed from her position couched behind a bush that was on the other side of the street from the restaurant.

"It is a bit boring," Gray admitted, "why in the world am I still here. It certainly looks like nothing will get done today anyway."

The group huddled in their various positions as they watched.

"Well I suppose we'll just have to be patient, right Erza? Erza? Eh! She's gone!" Sure enough Erza and her beloved strawberry cake were no longer in their hiding position. They had run out of patience.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

"So I have to feel or communicate with my own powers? I am not sure I understand. I mean sort of I guess but it's not like talking to another person." Wendy tried to sort out what Natsu had told her but it was kind of like trying to clean up an oil spill, it was messy and did not really seem to get any better very fast, if only there was some kind of spark which could set it all on fire.

"Don't worry too much about it Wendy, I still don't really get it either but it just kind of comes to me naturally. I guess that proves I'm really Igneel's kid and I'm sure Grandine gave you the same stuff Igneel gave me, just air and not fire. Anyway I still need to eat more!" Natsu was about to pick up a rather large looking leg of some kind of beast that knew what would make it grow when he paused to look at the window and froze. Not sure what could give Natsu pause when food was in front of him Wendy also turned to look. It was one of the things which could stop Natsu in his tracks but certainly not in the usual way.

What Wendy saw was Erza Scarlet's face right up next to the window with a fork full of cake about halfway into her mouth. Erza knew she had been spotted by Natsu and had frozen in that rather awkward position. Natsu's face started to contort a little and then exploded into a full out hysterical laugh. "Bwha Ha Ha Ha! What kind of face is that Erza! It's absolutely hilarious!" Wendy started to get a little scared knowing that Erza would probably retaliate but what happened next was unexpected. The Titania's cheeks started to turn red and she bit down on the fork full of cake and very slowly started to turn around, kind of like a windup doll with small jerks. In the background Wendy saw Gray get up from his hiding place while giving his own face a facepalm. Soon all the hidden watchers were visible knowing the gig was up. Erza sort of jerkily tried to escape, looking sort of like a tin woman while Natsu still laughed. "I'll never let you live this one down Erza!"

As soon as Natsu said that, though, Wendy knew something bad was going to happen, as the 'Fairy Tail Natsu and Wendy Watching Committee' were suddenly huddled together. "Natsu!" Erza turned around and the world outside the restaurant seemed to darken very quickly. Erza looked very dangerous indeed, and suddenly both Wendy and Natsu realized that the rest of the cake which had been on a platter Erza had been holding was no longer where it was supposed to be and had fallen into the ground as Erza had tried to embarrassingly get away. Natsu and Wendy instantly both felt cold sweat and Natsu tried desperately to beg for forgiveness by bowing multiple times on top of the table, knocking over quite a few plate in the process.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I did not mean it Erza!"

"N-Natsu-san I don't think its working! Erza-san still looks pretty scary!" Wendy, with wide eyes grabbed onto Natsu's shirt.

"Wendy."

"Y-yes, Natsu-san?"

"Let's make a run for it."

"O-Ok!" Wendy eagerly agreed, forgetting about the bill entirely and sped for the exit. As soon as they were outside Erza was in quick pursuit shouting at the top of her lungs, "Natsu! I will take revenge for that strawberry cake!"

"Please spare me! Anyone help us!"

xxxxXXXXxxxx

The end result of the chase ended up with Natsu taking a severe Erza sized beating with extra helpings of pulverization while thankfully Wendy had been able to avoid her wrath as all the blame had been put upon the hot-headed flame user. Wendy had decided to practice some more while the others watched. Natsu attempted to watch but it was proving rather difficult as Erza had him in an armored head-lock which was not at all comfortable. "Gah! My head feels like it's going to twist off!" He complained but Erza ignored him as they sort of sat together.

"Deal with it Natsu, now let's see if your teaching has paid off." Erza was obviously still in a very sour mood and Wendy felt sorry for the male dragon slayer and seriously hoped she would be able to use her dragon slayer abilities if mostly for Natsu's sake than her own.

Wendy tried to calm herself with controlled breathed and looked straight ahead toward the horizon. "I can do this I know; I must be able to be one with my element. Help me Grandine." Wendy mustered all her resolve and tried to feel the power insider her. For starters she took a deep breath of air to charge up her breath attack and tried to feel it as much as she could. It was rather easy to feel but all the power was concentrated in lungs and nowhere else in her body. Slowly she let it out and felt as the dragon slayer power ebbed away from that area, trying to memorize how it felt. "Grandine, I want to be of help to Natsu-san and the others, I also want to be able to stand up with Loretta-san. I think Natsu had more time with Igneel than I did you Grandine but I am sure you knew what you were doing, though admittedly I'm not too sure myself." Wendy opened her eyes and felt something inside her, at first she started to grasp for it but stopped herself and instead remained still and listened. Like an electric signal jumping the gap between neurons Wendy knew what to do.

Wendy put one foot in front of the other, bent her knees a bit and brought back her arm with a clenched fist. Air gathered around her arm and started to make a swirling vortex which grew stronger by the second and a very unlucky flying insect found itself sucked into the small cyclone that was forming. "Cyclone Fist of the Sky Dragon!" The wind power punch from the sure wind pressure ripped up some of the grass and sent it flying ahead in little twirls. "I-I can't believe it! I did it Natsu-san!" Wendy cheered expecting to see Natsu grinning but instead only saw him passed out in Erza's grip as everyone had been watching Wendy succeed in unleashing her dragon slayer powers. "E-Erza, Natsu-san."

"Hum?" Erza mumbled before noticing that her grip had gotten tighter and Natsu's head had turned blue. Erza quickly got him out of the lock and Natsu collapsed on her lap, his soul trying to escape to join the heavenly kingdom above. "Sorry Natsu I did not mean to go so far!" Natsu did not respond and Erza's eye twitched. "Wake up already and congratulate your pupil!" She wacked him on the head and Natsu shot up.

"Erza! Why did you knock me out! I almost missed Wendy's first dragon slayer powered punch!"

"You saw Natsu-san?" Wendy asked slightly doubtful, but Natsu's cheerful face quickly got rid of all doubt.

"You bet Wendy! That was great! I told you, we dragon slayers can do anything!" Wendy nodded and smiled in agreement. Natsu walked up to Wendy and brought out his fist with a grin, at first Wendy was unsure but then she realized what he wanted to do. She also brought her fist out to meet his and both their respective elements enveloped their hands and pushed against each other.

Everyone cheered except Erza who merely smiled and said, "It is good to see you both growing, I'm glad you learned how to teach from me."

"I think I would rather forget about that," Natsu added low enough that Erza could not hear him, Wendy giggled a bit.

Erza looked at them both with a contented look but her eyes drifted over to Natsu more than Wendy. _"You really have grown up Natsu; you will easily surpass me no doubt. Yes, you really have grown."_

"Everyone!" Erza's thoughts were interrupted and actually found she was grateful for the interruption since she realized she had been staring at Natsu and for some reason it had been different from other times. She put away such thoughts to focus one of the newer members from Fairy Tail who looked like he had run for a while. "I was sent to tell you that there was an announcement from the Magic Council! It has been decreed that the S-class criminal who infiltrated the Council, Gerard Fernandez is to be publicly executed for his crimes a few weeks from now!"

"What! Is this true!" Lucy shouted not sure she believed the messenger's words.

"Yes! It is an official announcement from the Council that just came in. I guess they figured he was too dangerous to be kept alive."

"Gerard, is going to be executed?" Erza spoke softly, almost trembling with disbelief. She had known this day might come but hearing it become a reality easily slipped through her armor.

Everyone had different degrees of distraught looks but Natsu found himself concentrating on Erza's seemingly ready to collapse form. "Erza…"

**Author's Note: Well there you have it another chapter done. Frankly I am not too sure about this chapter, especially the scene with Igneel but I thought it would be nice to add a little something there since not much is known about the dragons in the first place. Wendy is unlocking her offensive capabilities and now Gerard's execution date is coming. Also another thing, I was not sure if I should use Gerard or Jellal. Since I read the manga online first, Gerard was name I first saw, plus I just like it better than Jellal. Sorry if this confuses any of you anime watchers out there but just so you know, Gerard=Jellal. Well thanks for reading, review if you so please so I can have feed-back. Thank you and maybe I'll get around to another chapter soon, but I do not give any promises.**


	9. Execution Part 1

Chapter 9 – Execution (Part 1)

The days rolled by fairly uneventfully; there were sunny days, windy days, and even a few rainy days as the weeks ticked down to the approaching date. Fairy Tail life of course continued for the most part unimpeded but whenever Erza Scarlet was in the vicinity things tended to stay quiet. Erza was not her usual self: sort of distant look made her eyes appear unfocused and those who knew of her past with Gerard were especially trying to give her as much space as possible. When Erza thought of the last time she had seen Gerard, without his memory except that he had managed to remember her name. She had known that his execution could very well come to pass but she had hoped for at least life imprisonment instead; even if such a thought was selfish of her just remembering Gerard being taken away to a place where she would never get the chance to talk with him again hit her almost as hard as when it had first happened.

The only person that had really gone up and talked to her was Natsu, often to ask her to fight with him, but she would merely brush him off with indifference. Still Natsu kept trying but because he had to train Wendy and of course do missions these times tended to be few and far in-between and he had yet to make her smile. Natsu was at least smart enough to know why Erza was barely even acknowledging him; that was a kind of puzzle that had only nine pieces which even an infant could probably put together in a heart-beat. Over the days Natsu had been steadily growing angrier with rather frequent out-bursts of rage which was starting to cause problems for Wendy when she was training with him.

A few times she had been taken off guard when he first started to go berserk at random and needless to say she had collected a few bruises and pains that probably should not have happened in training. She was glad she currently had on her BANIA support magic which allowed her the necessary speed to avoid Natsu more powerful, enraged strikes, like the Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon that was currently heading her way. Faster than the eye could trace she bent her knees and sprang out of the way, just before the big fire-engulfed strike could hit. The ground where she had been a moment before was completely pulverized with chunks of ground flying in every direction, often on fire. "Dang it! I just don't get it!" Natsu roared to the sky loud enough that he almost sounded just like a dragon.

A chaotic fire surrounded Natsu and he breathed rather heavily, his sharp canines shone brightly, making him seem as if a beast had taken over.

"N-Natsu-san, please calm down!" Wendy pleaded with the enraged dragon-slayer who turned slowly to look at her and for a second Wendy felt cold all over despite the immense heat given off by Natsu's body. It was like he did not even recognize her. After a brief moment recognition sparked in his eyes, they softened and he started to calm down, the fire level lowering with his emotional state.

"Sorry Wendy, I did not mean to attack like that, it's just been getting harder to concentrate." Natsu groaned and collapsed, face to the sky in the crater he had made with a frown on his features.

"I-It's all right Natsu-san. I know you didn't mean to but at least it's taught me to always be prepared!" Wendy tried to encourage Natsu a little bit but as she looked at his still form, she could tell it had not worked as she had wanted. With a troubled look on her face, Wendy went down into the hole next to Natsu and sat down. "You don't have to teach me any more today Natsu-san, it's all right, I can learn by myself thanks to you."

Natsu moved his eyes toward the petite young dragon-slayer for a moment then started looking at the sky again. "Thanks Wendy," he responded as gratefully as he could in his sour mood. "It's just, well Erza is not acting like her usual strong self and it is all because I let him get away. If I had just been stronger I could have blown all those council guys away and she wouldn't be like this!" Natsu gritted his teeth and slammed a clenched fist into the ground on the side away from Wendy.

"I know, after such hard battles there was no way we could get through to save him." Wendy leaned back as she recollected the events as well. "If it had not been for Erza-san,"

"I know blast it! Erza stopped us from trying to get to him to save us! She wanted with all her might not to let him go but because we were too weak Erza had to interfere!" The pure frustration was so easy to recognize it was almost tangible in the air, like smoldering embers with smoke that you could choke on.

"It was certainly not an easy decision for Erza-san to make." Wendy and Natsu both looked up at the sky with their feelings clearly displayed to the heavens above. An interesting observation flowed into Wendy's mind as she sat there with him. "You know Natsu, when I thought that Gerard was the Gerard I had met before, which turned out to be Mystogan; I think my thoughts were pretty similar to Erza's at the time. A person who had been with me and helped me in the past was suddenly right in front of me again and despite the consequences I helped revive him. I had been too weak back then to do what was right which is why I really admire Erza-san for what she did then. Even though he was going to walk right out of her life so soon after she had really connected with him again she did what was needed to keep us from becoming the council's enemies. It really must have torn her apart; I know it did for me."

Natsu stayed silent as she had talked and he might have actually looked a bit thoughtful, if it were not for the scowl on his face that contorted it into an angry mess. "She tries to take on too much responsibility. If Erza would just leave it to me then she wouldn't have to worry."

"But, by that logic Natsu-san, if you think Erza-san is putting too much upon her shoulders aren't you trying to do the same thing?" The small, blue-haired girl questioned.

"Oh be quiet Wendy," Natsu grumbled, put his hands behind his head and rolled to the side, away from her. His behavior caused Wendy to laugh slightly, then she puffed out a small breath of air.

"I suppose the only thing we can do right now is be there for Erza-san." Natsu gave a small grunt and leapt up on his feet, hands in his pockets. Wendy turned her head to look at his back and at first she thought he would head right out but instead he just stood there, with clenched fists.

"Sorry Wendy, but I don't think I'll be able to practice with you for a while." He waited for a few seconds more and then started to march away.

Wendy watched as his figure started to recede into the horizon, at least it would have been a horizon if it weren't for the city of Magnolia being in his direction. "You're the only one who can do it Natsu-san!"

xxxxxXXXXXxxxxx

Another high-level mission quickly accomplished, Erza found herself once again having to loaf around in the guild hall when she would much rather be on a mission; however, most of high-class missions at the moment were either not suited for her magic or they were simply too far away for her to return in time for the…execution. She hated being this way, always thinking about him and their past together including, of course, the present situation. There were of course lower level missions but she figured it would be better to leave that to other guild members who might actually need the work so here she was, sitting at a table with a nearly untouched strawberry shortcake on a plate in front of her. Even the tantalizing look and smell of one of her favorite deserts could only stare back at her, longing to be eaten. Even if the strawberries had started to sing and dance on her plate she probably would have only given them a passing glance, either that or a gloved fist since strawberries were definitely not supposed to sing and dance.

Suddenly there was a crash of heavy doors being flung open accompanied by a blast of superheated air from the flashy entrance of a very familiar pink-haired dragon slayer. The words that came next were also very familiar. "Erza! Fight with me!" A strawberry fizzled on her plate and its juices were vaporized out of existence; surprisingly it was not mourned by the red-head. Erza simply turned to give Natsu a small scowl as he came toward her. "Come on Erza! You've not fought with me for weeks!"

"Natsu, I believe I somewhat understand what you are doing but do understand, I am not in the mood." Having made her point the Titania turned back toward her plate but did not seem like she would actually do anything with it.

"I have had enough! I will not allow you to refuse!" Erza was totally taken back by what happened next. She felt herself yanked from her seat with great as Natsu grabbed onto the back of her armor. Soon she was actually being dragged with her boots scrapping along the ground as if she was nothing more than a doll.

"Natsu! What are you doing?" Erza managed to protest despite her surprise. Sure Natsu sometimes attacked her on occasion but he had never done something like actually trying to drag her around. Well technically that was not true was Natsu had managed to drag her out of the lacrima crystal in the Tower of Paradise but of course he had never tried something like this when she was awake. For some reason she felt as helpless as when she had woken up in Natsu's arms after her fateful reunion with Gerard at that accursed tower. It was not long before they were outside.

Then entire guild watched in utter amazement at the very improbable role-reversal that had just taken place in front of their eyes. Usually it would be Erza dragging Natsu somewhere while he kicked and screamed in helplessness; but for once a sight that would probably never happen again had just occurred with the Titania being the one dragged around by the Salamander.

"Now that's a true man!" Elfman could not help but comment in the dead-silence that followed.

"More like a dead-man." Someone in the back muttered.

Natsu dragged her out in the street where any citizens who saw the pair, and what was happening, very quickly found other places to be just in case things got very hot and pointy. The streets empty, Natsu flung Erza forward; in the exact instant she was thrown her body took control so she easily somersaulted onto her feet and stood her ground to face him. She glared at the dragon slayer and ex-quipped into her Flame Empress Armor, her red hair pulled into two large pig-tails, dragon claw like boots appeared on her fee, her shoulders and a bit of thigh showing. As the armor effectively cut Natsu's flame effectiveness in half she was more than ready to fight him.

"Come!" Erza commanded by pointing her sword at him and then raising her sword up in the air to prepare for a strike. Natsu crashed his fists together and started to flare up in preparation. Erza prepared for Natsu to bound forth, striking with his flames but instead Natsu just stood there and his flames were started to ebb away slowly as he stared angrily at her. "What are you doing? You dragged me out here to fight correct?" Something was not right; the previous fighting spirit she had sensed from her long time friend had dulled to a quite murmur that was very out of character for the flame head.

"The Erza I know would have hit me back in the guild there or at least sensed me coming! Even now your eyes don't have any fire in them. Fighting you now wouldn't be worth my time, I'd have a better fight with Gray or Wendy." What Natsu was saying to her was quite surprising to say the least. He even said that it would not be worth fighting her? When Natsu had yet to even beat her once in single combat?

"What are you getting at Natsu? Do you think that I have become weak?"

"No that's not it Erza, it's just…" Natsu stopped to cock his head to the side and look like he was trying to jump start a neuron in his head, "you're not you Erza. You're just not any fun these days." Natsu let out a small humph of annoyance and crossed his arms.

Erza was not really sure what to make of the current situation so she decided to counter-attack. "I really do not see any point to this conversation Natsu and as you do not seem to be able to fight I believe it is time to depart." Erza was about to turn to leave when Natsu's strong voice stopped her.

"Erza! Let's save Gerard! I don't care what it takes I will definitely get him back!" Natsu's proclamation resounded in her ears and despite herself she felt a bit of joy but logic was able to easily override that emotion.

"Natsu, I appreciate the sentiment but you do know it is impossible to go against the Council."

"Oh come on Erza! We can take those guys easily!"

"That is not the point Natsu!" Erza's voice also had started to rise and it was full of authority. "Gerard gave himself up willingly and as a result despite our struggle back there the council did not press charges! Do you want Gerard's sacrifice to be in vain?" Erza could feel her eyes start to mist up from remembering that day and had to blink furiously to return her eyes to normal.

"Blast it Erza! Just do it with me! I don't want to see you like this anymore!" Natsu pleaded, trying to change her mind.

"Natsu!" The way she spoke his name instantly caused Natsu to shut up and gave him an uncontrollable shiver along with a jolt of fear. "We will do nothing of the short and if I sense you trying to bust Gerard out before or even during the execution I will stop you for the sake of Fairy Tail. Do you understand?" Her proclamation was as firm as a commandment set in stone and Natsu instantly responded with a very weak sounding, "yes" in response. "Now go!"

Natsu quickly turned around, his previous bravado completely forgotten in the face of the Titania's wrath but before he got very far he managed to say one last thing, "That's more like the Erza I know!"

Erza watched as he hurried back to the guild and felt a small smile grace her face. "Despite it being wrong, still, I thank you Natsu." Out of her control her artificial eye started to tear up. "I guess since I have not cried out of this eye much during my life I have a lot of backed up tears." Wiping the tears away, Erza felt her determination renewed thanks to Natsu's rather extreme way of doing things.

xxxxXXXXxxxx

Natsu and Erza both felt a little better after their argument; neither of them were necessarily happy but at least they did not make everyone else feel as uneasy. Days passed as life went on in Fairy Tail. Erza still devoted herself to many missions but at least when she was at the Guild no longer caused everyone to steer clear of her, at least it went back down to normal levels so she still had a clear path wherever she went. As usual the escapades of Natsu's rather destructive outings could be heard about but these times were broken up by his training sessions with Wendy who was making miraculous headway. It was not long before the fated date had arrived.

After having so much trouble the Council had decided it needed to take a harder stand which is why the Execution was taking place. First of all, faith in the Council these days was greatly diminished, largely thanks to the infiltration of Gerard and Ultear into the Council, and the Council needed this public execution to show what happened to traitors. Secondly it was a power issue; there was no doubt that the Council was still recovering from events so they wanted to show that they still had the power to enforce the rules. Needless to say it was a very political move on the Council's part, though it could have easily happened even without those incentives. The council had decided to raise a wooden execution platform outside of the city in a fairly open area. It was an open execution that would be broadcast abroad so people did not have to watch in person if they so wished. Also since it was outside Magnolia it would not interfere too much with city life. Another unofficial reason was probably they wanted to make sure if Fairy Tail or anyone else got involved there would be no damage to the city; a few council servants could still remember the beatings they took when Gerard was first taken away.

The platform itself was rather simple, just a wooden construction, probably of solid oak raised enough so that it would be easy for the gathering people to see. What was not so simple was the complex rune defense system that had been employed to make sure that there was no outside interference. Six rune casters created a hexagon barrier around the platform with a good 20 feet or so of empty ground on each side; at least, it would have been empty if it were not for the additional guardsmen and spell casters inside and outside the barrier. The Fairy Tail members that had decided to watch found themselves with first row spots after a bit of negotiating with some of the other watchers who very quickly found ways to compromise. Erza found herself wishing she had not come but she felt it was her duty as Gerard's nakama, to see him off one last time. On the outside she looked completely calm.

"Erza, are you all right?" Lucy could not help but ask with worry in her voice.

"Please do not worry about me; I was prepared for a day such as this." Erza responded to reassure Lucy and anyone else nearby.

Natsu glowered at the platform, obviously not happy about the turn of events. The guardsmen nearby were definitely more than a bit tense, having heard stories of the Salamander's rampages. "I still say we could take them!" One stern look from Erza forced Natsu to be quiet.

Soon a procession of soldiers, wizards, and two large, magic knights accompanying Gerard appeared. The two knights carried heavy chains that clamped Gerard's hands together and were attached to his feet and neck to make sure he could not do anything. Also in the back was one of the council's frogs who carried a small magic canceller that looked like a paper lantern with a blue glow to cast an anti-magic field around the prisoner. Precautions were definitely very high at the event. The procession forced any people aside to make room as the cart slowly made its way to the barrier. Through some complex rune work, a hole was made in the barrier, allowing the procession through which then closed off behind them. All eyes watched its every move. As Gerard was taken down from the cart and pushed toward the platform one of the council messenger frogs stood on the platform to make an announcement.

"Greets good people of Edolas! As you well know, the Council has decided to give capital punishment to the traitor Gerard Fernandez! He has been charged with these heinous crimes: Infiltration of the Magic Council, the Firing of Etherion on neutral territory, misinforming the Magic Council, nearly causing a state of war between Edolas and our neighboring countries due to Etherion being fired, and the attempt to use the forbidden magic of the R-system! All these are capital crimes against both the Council and Edolas; therefore, Gerard Fernandez is to be incinerated by magic which can take longer for those of high magical power to die from."

"Hey! That's not right!" Lucy rigorously protested, "They could at least give him a quick execution!" Natsu nearly growled in anger while Erza somehow managed to stay impassive. Soon Gerard was standing in the middle of the platform and next to him stood the execution. The executioner was clothed entirely in red with some gold trim; a cloth mask in traditional executioner style covered his face. It was his duty to use the magic that would bring an end to Gerard's life. Not a single speck of skin was visible on the executioner who even wore red-leather gloves; in his outfit one might be able to mistake him for a servant of hell.

"Gerard Fernandez! You have heard the charges against you and now if you have anything left to say, do it now." Everyone was silent as they waited to hear what Gerard would say. The two knights that were holding him chained Gerard to the spot on some metal hooks on the platform and stepped back, leaving just Gerard and his executioner together. Gerard scanned over the crowd, saw Erza and stared at her for a moment. Erza found herself gritting her teeth and clenching her fists as she forced herself to look back at him. Gerard then closed his eyes and faced straight ahead.

"Everything that I wished to have said I have already done, please continue."

"Gerard!" Natsu howled from outside, tried to step forward but was stopped by Erza. "So you're just going to stand there and do nothing!"

The corners of Gerard's mouth turned up ever so slightly, "I am glad you are here, I am sure you will be there for everyone."

"It is now time for the execution to begin, please take your positions!" The executioner stood in front of Gerard and faced him, palms outstretched as magic started to build up in them for the finishing attack.

"Gerard," Erza whispered to herself though Natsu managed to just barely hear her. Hearing her voice so small and weak, Natsu exploded, pushed Erza's arm away, knocked over all the guards in his way and assaulted the barrier with all his might.

"Gerard!" Guardsmen quickly attempted to swarm Natsu but it was like trying to wrestle with a crocodile that kept whipping its tail around.

"Ready!" The frog man continued and Natsu was finally brought down by the collective weight of around 20 guardsmen. Erza watched as stone facedly as she could but her trembling fist gave away what she really felt.

"Fire!" As soon as the command was given three things happened at once. Natsu somehow managed to blow away all the guardsmen on him, causing more than a few people being pelted with raining guardsmen. The second thing was that what appeared to be two giant mechanical hands erupted from the ground and through the platform, splintering wood and causing a great noise. The third thing was that the executioner was swatted away by one of the hands, causing his magical blast to careen out of control into the far side of the barrier which fluctuated from the intense blast.

"What is going on?" shouted a presiding Council member who watched as the hand grasped into the platform, shoved it to the side, making many members scatter from out of its path as a large automaton climbed its way out of the ground, revealing a large pit that had been dug out under the platform as the thin ground above the pit gave way. Riding on top of the giant contraption's head and shoulders were a tall man with prism-like armor, a small classic loli, a strong combat ready looking man, a beautiful woman that screamed seductress, a rather plain looking guy, a woman who wore a sort of full-headset so her face could not be seen, and an ambiguous figure with a large, black veil covered hat like that a Chinese emperor might have worn.

The heavily clothed figure spoke while gesturing with its hands, "Gerard Fernandez! It is not yet time for you to leave this world! There are still some services that I and the Xin Dynasty, require of you!"

Gerard, who was a bit shaken from having the platform he was attached to being thrown aside, could only look up in pain at the group. The Xin Dynasty had made its move.

"Council I really must thank you for this marvelous location you chose, it was most helpful for my purposes. Since once I knew the location where the Execution would be held it was a simple matter to prepare for this day, ha ha ha!"

**Author's Note: At last I am getting somewhere and it is soon time to see the story's villians in action! Things have gotten pretty messed up, the Council's precautions have proved useless thanks to some clever information gathering and planning on behave of the Xin Dynasty Guild or Clan. Of course why have they decided to keep Gerard alive anyway? Only time will tell...and believe me it could take a while since I have things to do and whatnot. Expect quite a bit of action in the next chapter and hope you enjoyed this chapter since I am trying very hard to keep the characters 'in character' as much as I can, anyway later!**


	10. Execution Part 2

Chapter 10 - Execution (Part 2)

Xing-fu's laughter resounded over the execution grounds causing all the people around to tense up. Brax the forever impatient, however very quickly let his annoyance be noticed. "Ok Mr. Emperor, you can freakin' stop being a drama queen already!" One thing about the military looking Brax, he liked to get down to business.

"How dare you speak that like that to your leader! Fine, I'll allow you to be the one to carry Gerard back with us." Even without being able to see his face it was easy to tell by the voice that Xing-fu was a little ticked off.

"With pleasure." Brax huffed and jumped down from the automaton as a fair amount of guards started to occupy the space between him and Gerard.

"We must not let them interfere any longer! Make sure you put a stop to these imbeciles!" shouted out a council member to all the men present on the field.

"Blast it who are those guys!" Grey slammed a fist into a palm as if to use his ice magic.

"Why do they want Gerard?" Lucy asked, not really expecting an answer, while Erza glared at the Xin Dynasty as they made their move.

"Hey, I recognize him!" Natsu shouted and pointed at Takashi who was standing on top of the robot. "He's that plain looking guy that stabbed me!"

"How come that is the only thing you remember about me!" Takashi shouted back angrily.

"I have to admit, it is rather peculiar that he recognizes you at all, considering how it's so easy to forget about you since you hardly stand out at all." Irene commented, hiding her mouth with a sleeve so she could insert a small, snickering laugh into it.

"Thank you so much for that you little midget." Takashi shot back as he also headed toward the ground as Brax met up with his resistance.

For such a large guy Brax was amazingly agile and obviously had very good reflexes. Spears and swords tried to make contact with his body but Brax, using just his hands and feet, managed to parry and dodge anything that came his way while at the same time counterattacking as he passed by. The strange thing was that while he appeared to be making heavy connections with fist and leg against the guardsmen, it was as if they could not feel a thing.

One rather confused looking guard stopped to check his face where he could have sworn he had just been elbowed. "How in the world did I not feel that?"

"This guy may be slippery but he's as weak as a fly! My grandmother could hit harder than him! Blast it he got through! Let's get him!" Emboldened by that random guardsmen's words the guards rushed back toward Brax who had almost gotten to Gerard by this time, soon he was right in front of him.

"Please just let me be, I was prepared for this. There is no need to save me nor will I help the likes of you." Gerard gave Brax a hard stare but Brax merely shrugged, took a small knife from his vest and managed to hack away the part of the platform Gerard's chain were connected to.

"So you really did lose your memory huh? You sound like a complete wimp."

"We got him now!" The brave front runner guard shouted as he and two others lunged at Brax who did not even turn around to look at them.

With a wicked grin on his face Brax simply responded by saying, "Delay off." With that simple command all of the guards that Brax had managed to hit before suddenly sailed off in the direction of where they had been hit before. The force of the blow that had done nothing before suddenly came into effect. The guard who had been elbowed in the face suddenly realized just how strong Brax really was. "Huh, what weaklings, I probably only gave a few, no, two strikes at the most. Well then I have to bring you back with us." Brax easily heaved Gerard and all the chains with him onto his shoulders and started to make his way back to the automaton.

"Do not let them get away! Time to show these cretins the magical power of the council! Destroy their transportation and stop that man!" Instantly a lot of wizards started to charge magic spells to shoot at the machine while the two magic knights who had accompanied Gerard to the platform, had recovered from the sudden appearance of the Xin clan and moved to block Brax's way.

As the magicians started their bombardments Xing-fu calmly spoke, "Davine, go and clear the way for Brax would you?"

The gorgeous red-head gave her most heart-melting smile at her leader. "But of course Xing-Fu-sama." While she spoke, she was forced to twist her upper-body like a dancer to avoid a passing lightning bolt. She quickly turned her twist into a beautiful back dive toward the ground and like a cat, managed to land on her feet. She stood up slowly from her fall and walked lithely toward the two knights from the back as many magical attacks peppered the giant robot which looked like it would shrug at any moment, as if to say their efforts were like trying to pelt a steel bar with small rocks in order to dent it.

"Hey boys," Davine practically purred at the knights who turned quickly, not wanted to be hit from the back. "You seem like a good pair of strong men; wouldn't you want to do just about anything for me?" Davine's pearly whites shone at the knights, she made sure one of her legs was exposed and a pleasant smell, like lilac wafted over them. It was kind of like being caught in a warm blanket and suddenly feeling that it is impossible to keep your eyes open without extreme effort. The two knights both seemed to droop and then instantly were wide awake again as if nothing had happened.

They both turned toward Brax who was just a few feet away. "If you would I would just love it if you let my slave through." Without a word the two knights lowered their weapons and stepped aside to allow Brax through. Brax was unamused by her joke.

"As if I would ever serve a stuck up brat like you," he snarled as he ran by with his package.

"Not as if you would have any choice in the matter." She laughed as her newest slaves turned to face her in their armor. "Now my handsome servants, do whatever is necessary to allow us to get away." Without even acknowledging, the two magic knights rushed into the nearest batch of comrades and started to attack them.

"Stop those knights from acting so foolishly!" Shouted one of the Magic Council commanders to some of the troops. "Keep the magical shield up and do not let them escape! Prepare the magical cannon for attack! That should bring down their automaton!"

Xing-fu saw Brax make it to the robot while dodging magical attacks from all around. "Takeshi, it is up to you to make our escape possible. Yashe, position your contraption for when the shield goes down so we can retreat as quickly as possible as we have other business to take care of."

Yashe nodded to their leader, and his semi-translucent armor started to glow with numerous pathways of activity like a giant circuit board while the robot, which had been standing after its initial get up, started to move toward one of the magic walls. "These attacks are pitiful; they cannot even hope to scratch my Riesig. Oh – well, that could put a dent in my Riesig." Yashe noted, seeing the Council's large, magical cannon being put in place and charging up to fire upon the machine. "Hey Chibi-Irene! Do you mind making sure no damage comes to my superb Riesig? It takes quite a bit of maintenance you know."

The small classic Goth smirked at her tall counterpart, "But of course sir head-in-the-clouds. I would not want anything to happen to our precious transportation Yashe."

"What nauseating lovers' talk as always," Brax grunted as he somehow managed to climb up to their level while holding onto Gerard, "oh and thanks for the lift," he added with sarcasm as he whisked past to deposit Gerard in a safe place.

"We are not like that!" The two shouted in unison. Brax just rolled his eyes.

"Well don't forget about the big cannon pointed right at us, bloody council seems to have a thing for giant guns."

"Right!" Irene shouted, trying to get rid of the blush in her cheeks as she concentrated on the cannon pointed right at the Riesig's head. Irene lifted black-gloved hands toward the canon, palms up. "Oh Guardian of that which should never be known. Defy this power which is about to be shown! For if you do not the beast shall rise, from the Ogre's Gate that brings demise!" After she had finished her poem what appeared to be a giant rune appeared in the sky between the Riesig and the Council's weapon. It was very faint and had a very complex pattern with somewhat of a spiral to it. A second later the command to "fire" could be heard from below and the canon erupted with a white blast of magic which struck the symbol in the sky. As the magic hit the rune the outer edges of it started to light up and work its way inward. It stopped before even getting halfway and stayed at the level until the canon stopped firing.

"How could anything be powerful enough to withstand that much magic?" The magician in charge of the cannon wailed in dismay at their failed attempt to stop them.

Irene sighed, "You would think they would have more power than that, I guess I cannot expect much from them."

"If ranged magic is useless then we will just have to get close and personal! Everyone swarm them!" The Council members and their troops started to charge but a good deal of the men had fallen to Davine's charms making a fully concentrated attack impossible to accomplish. Part of the headset the new addition to the Xin Clan wore, opened up to reveal the figure's mouth. The figure then started to scream down at the magical troops, sonic blasts buffeted them, throwing small groups into the ground and generally disorienting the attackers. There was also a very elusive presence among them that they could not touch no matter what they tried to do.

"Yashe have your golem tear through this barrier while Takeshi is taking care of the barrier casters. It will be amusing to see when the barrier will be weak enough for us to easily decimate," Xing-fu commanded while Yashe made the Riesig pound over toward the magic barrier and its hands reached out toward it. Suddenly they all had to steady themselves as they felt the Riesig shudder violently. "Irene!" Xing-fu hissed, thinking that they had just been struck by one of the council's powerful magics.

"Do not blame me your _high_ness!" Irene shouted back, putting emphasis on the _high_ part since he literally was above them all since he was standing on top of the Riesig's head. She may have not cared about her height but she still joked about other people's height. "I have not let a single large spell strike us from those fools!"

They all heard someone shout "Hey" from below, between them and the barrier. Looking down they could see the source of the tremor.

"You aren't going anywhere with Gerard because he is coming with us!"

"I see, the Salamander and his friends have come to stop us have they?" Xing-fu said as he saw Natsu Dragneel and several other Fairy Tail members had come up from a hole in the ground dug by Lucy's stellar spirit Virgo. No doubt Natsu had struck the metal frame of the Riesig with enough force to cause a vibration, though the metal giant itself appeared to be undamaged. The five Fairy Tail members that had managed to use Virgo's tunnel to go underneath the barrier were Natsu, Grey, Erza, Lucy, and Wendy.

Xing-fu smiled underneath his veiled hat. "Hmm so you have come to save Gerard but if you stop us then will you not actually be giving him his death sentence?" No doubt he was sneering but of course no one could see that.

"As if! We are going to-" Natsu yelled back but was interrupted by Erza who was trying her best not the show the pain she obviously felt and did a very good job at hiding it behind her stern expression.

"Be that as it may, I will not allow anyone to use Gerard for their own purposes; I do not want to see him revert back to being a servant of Zeref. He had finally broken free of that fate and I will not let you jeopardize it. Now release him!" Erza pointed her sword up at Xing-fu who was amused by her speech.

"Oh did you really believe that he was possessed and could hear Zeref? Oh what a fool he was, a grand chess piece that had been merely discarded when he was no longer useful. Still he is a powerful mage and I have my own purpose for him so I must politely decline any acceptance to your terms." Xing-fu laughed and Natsu's blood started to boil with anger, Erza as well felt the need to clench her teeth.

"That's horrible," Wendy shouted up toward the Xin Clan, "how can you treat Gerard as a tool! H-He may not be the kind Gerard I knew and I know he has done many terrible things, but no one deserves to be treated that way!"

"You all would make horrible politicians." The Xin leader could not help but comment, losing his train of thought for a second. "In any case Fairy Tail, you cannot stop me! Brax, make sure Gerard is secure then fend off these small fry for me. Irene, concentrate on stopping the Council's attacks. Davine, send a few of the Council's best men over here. Oh and Yashe, you might as well send that new toy of yours down to stop them as well."

"With pleasure." Yashe smiled and motioned for the figure with the full head set to stop attacking the council and instead fight against the Fairy Tail members. "Also allow my Riesig to get in on the action; it needs some payback for the hit earlier!" The Riesig lifted up a leg then sent the foot crashing down to try and stomp Natsu and the rest into submission. Quickly they scattered and avoided the blow, while trying to find a way up the robot; enemies came to meet them from above and from the ground.

"Man I wish Happy was here, then I could just fly up and give that guy a fiery greeting. Well if it's too hard to climb up I'll just smash it and bring it down!" Flames gathered around Natsu's feet as he prepared to rocket himself into one of the Riesig's legs to try and topple it. Flames erupted and propelled him through the air, "Iron Fist of the-Gah!" Natsu was interrupted by a heavy boot to the head as Brax fell from above on top of him, stomping him back down to earth. Natsu smashed into the ground head first yet managed to recover fairly quickly, pushing Brax off and jumping back to study his new opponent; this did not last very long. "Don't get in my way!" Natsu charged Brax, one blazing hand preparing to punch his lights out.

"It is my duty to get in your way, while I look strong no doubt," Brax reacted a split second before Natsu could connect, sidestepping Natsu's punch while clotheslining him, "I am quite quick."

Natsu was a natural fighter however and as he went down for a second time, shot his feet up into a spinning wheel kick of flames, catching Brax by surprise in the back, causing him to stumble forward and turn angrily toward the dragon-slayer, sporting a burn spot on his back. "You don't seem all that great to me, I think that plainclothes guy is way more annoying." Natsu taunted.

"Do not insult me Dragon-Slayer! My power is not some cheap trick like Takeshi's; I'll make sure you can never grin in a fight against me again!" Brax bulldozed into Natsu, ignoring any of Natsu's attempts to fight back and instead just going in for the kill, armed with brass knuckles to make his attacks more effective. Natsu's strikes seemed to do literally nothing to Brax who just kept attacking like an angry bull in a rodeo with red vision.

Erza attempted to scale the Riesig but suddenly a long flail wrapped around one of her legs and the force behind it dragged her into the ground. She managed to kick it off and looked to see it was one of the bodyguard knights that had stopped her. Free from the fight because of the now rather large amount of Davine's followers, her in-love knight had been sent back to stop the Fairy Tail members.

"I do not want to fight a member of the council, but as it appears you are not yourself I will have to fight since you are intent on getting in my way." Erza ex-quipped into The Giant's Armor, a fur trimmed, yellow armor with her right arm's armor being considerably larger than the rest. In her hand she equipped the Lance of Haja. "I shall make this quick."

The Knight may have not been himself but his training quickly kicked in; like Erza, was also able to ex-quip weapons. Erza had already thrown her spear with such fierce speed that the Knight was only able to ex-quip a large shield like that of a Roman centurion to block the spear, which pushed him back from the force several feet and when he stopped the point of the spear was only an inch away from his helmeted face having pierced through the shield. Being rendered practically useless by having a spear tossed through it the knight tossed it aside and the first thing he saw was the Titania right up in his face, having already changed into her Black Wing Armor for a decisive blow. Once again however the knight's training and reflexes just barely saved him as amazingly he was able to catch the strike with the back of his heavily armored gauntlets.

"I see the Council arms their best quite well." Erza noted as the two started their battle in earnest.

Grey had his own magical knight to deal with who was turning out to be quite the powerhouse. "Ice Make Lance!" Grey shouted while making the necessary gestures. Ice shot out toward the armored magic knight who managed to cut away the spikes that were heading for him. "Ice Make Hammer!" Once again Grey pounded a fist into his palm and an ice hammer came crashing down on top of the knight.

The knight staggered from the blow but managed to ex-quip a special throwing glaive type weapon to toss at Grey. The spinning bladed disc was fast and a magical force of wind could be seen spinning around it. There was no doubt in Grey's mind that his ice shield would be useless against such a powerful glaive. "Ice Make Pillar!" Grey pressed his hand to the ground, an ice pillar shot up beneath him, carrying Grey up and above the glaive which sliced through the bottom of the pillar easily. The pillar crumbled and Grey found himself falling to the ground. "Well that was certainly exciting." He huffed as he leapt up and dusted off his pants, only to realize they were not there. Before he could say anything else however he heard a humming getting louder from behind and instantly jumped to the side, but the magical glaive grazed his arm, drawing some blood.

"Well aren't you the tough one." Grey winced and held his arm, seeing that the knight had recovered with the glaive back in his hand. The only thing that showed the knight had taken damage from Grey's previous attack was that his helmet had a crack in it. The knight readied to throw again and Grey prepared to fight with all he had.

Lucy and Wendy found themselves standing together against the headset wearing foe. As the figure was closer they could just make out that it was a woman but as they could not see her face it was impossible to identify her. Whoever she was it appeared she knew how to fight without weapons as she took a battle ready stance while facing them. "Ah can't you just let us pass?" Lucy gave a painful smile knowing that the answer to her question was not going to be favorable.

The woman rushed forward, leapt up in the air and came crashing down with an empowered fist. Lucy and Wendy darted out of the way but a shockwave of vibrations raced along the ground, getting both of their legs which caused the two girls to stumble. "Ow, what kind of magic is that?" Lucy asked as she tried to recover but at the moment he legs were reduced to jelly.

"I'm not sure Lucy-san," came Wendy's reply as she just barely managed to get back to her feet, "it does seem familiar though." Lucy could hear the slight worry in Wendy's voice and she had to agree that it did seem familiar, now was not the time to think about that if they were going to stop the Xing clan.

"Open Scorpion Gate! Scorpion!" The red and white haired stellar spirit materialized in front of Lucy between her and their opponent.

"We are here Lucy! So this is who you want me to fight? We are ready!"

"I'll leave it to you Scorpion!" Scorpion got down on his hands and feet, pointing his massive tail toward their enemy. "Get ready Wendy!" Wendy nodded as Scorpion unleashed his Sand Blaster against the headgear wearer. She had fast reflexes and instantly jumped out of the way but Wendy was ready for her.

"Howl of the Sky Dragon!" A large blast of compressed wind erupted from her small mouth to pummel the airborne figure. Neither of them was expecting what happened next.

The figure knew how to plan ahead; once again the headset opened up around the mouth and a compressed scream shot out toward the ground, which gave her enough lift to sail above Wendy's dragon breath. As soon as she landed, she rocketed toward Scorpion with the force of a sonic boom, brought a hand down to the ground, scraping into the earth to bring her foot around for a decisive strike against the stellar spirit, sending him crashing along the ground, tail and arms flaying around. "Eek," Lucy sort of squeaked out, seeing her stellar spirit dispatched so quickly. It took a moment for the figure to reorient herself before she lunged toward Lucy.

"Arms x Armor x Vernier! Cyclone Fist of the Sky Dragon!" Wendy anticipated her move and flew, fist cracking into the figure's headset. The force of the wind empowered dragon blow blasted their opponent away, making her tumble end over end until she came to a sudden stop.

"Thank you Wendy!" Wendy said with relief very evident in her voice.

"Sure Lucy-san." Wendy smiled and then frowned as the enemy unsteadily raised herself back on her feet looked at them, and the full headset fell off because of all the extreme jostling she had gone through, sound could be heard blaring out of the head set while it fell. Wendy and Lucy's eyes widened in shock when they saw the familiar face of their newest friend, Loretta.

"Loretta!"

"Loretta-san!" Wendy exclaimed at the same time was Lucy when her identity was revealed. "W-Why are you with them?" Wendy's voice trailed off as she looked at Loretta's face, which looked lifeless and not at all like the over the top Dragon-slayer they knew before; however, tears could be seen dotting her stony face. "L-Loretta-san?" Loretta inhaled and screamed her dragon-breath attack at the pair.

"Yes it is a rather marvelous reunion is it not?" Xing-fu laughed down at them from up above. "Fights among friends are always so tear jerking, ha ha ha! Oh it would seem the barrier is coming down, good work Takeshi." As he had said, the barrier could be seen starting to fluctuate, getting weaker by the moment. "Everyone return! We are leaving!" Xing-fu reached his hand outward with a dramatic flourish. "Our mission is a success! I am afraid we shall have to leave our dispute for another time Fairy Tail." With a bow, all of the Xin members stopped fighting and quickly clambered up the Riesig. Erza and Grey had managed to defeat their foes; though it was obvious my Grey's breathing and wounds that he had a much harder time then the Titania did.

"Come back here!" Natsu called out in anger; having been brutally pummeled by Brax, he found himself unable to pursue. "Give Gerard back!"

"Do not worry Salamander; I am sure you will see him again." Xing-fu chuckled at the defeated looks of the Fairy Tail members. "Let's go Yashe!"

"Loretta-san!" Wendy called out as their friend rushed up the Riesig without looking back. Too many of the barrier makers had been taken out and the Riesig easily ripped through the barrier which collapsed as the automaton crashed through.

"You will not get away!" Erza changed into her flight armor and flew up to the top of the Riesig, aiming to hit Xing-fu in the back. Xing-fu unsheathed his own sword, an intricate looking weapon with a white, bone colored guard shaped like a coiled dragon and blocked her strike.

"A Valiant attempt Titania but you are alone." Xing-fu most likely smiled under his veil as Takeshi managed to get the jump on Erza, smacking her toward the ground. She managed to force her fall into a calm landing and was about to try again when the Riesig crouched down and with a mighty leap was suddenly many yards away and moving fast, too fast for anyone to catch up with them.

All of the council's men that were under Davine's control were suddenly back to normal and the forced civil war came to an end. "How could this have happened?" The council member in control fell to the ground in shock, "to think they were able to escape so easily." Sweat poured off his face as he thought of the consequences. "How are we supposed to explain this to the main council or the people?"

Natsu pounded the ground in frustration. "Blast it! I let Gerard get taken away again!"

Erza starred in the direction of the fleeing Xin Clan with a stern look on her face, annoyed that at least a part of her was happy that Gerard's life had been spared because of their actions. Still seeing him being taken away from her again was as heartbreaking as before.

"Loretta-san is with them, if only we had known earlier maybe we could have…" Wendy trailed off as tears started to roll down her face, frustrated with their failure to stop them to save Gerard and Loretta.

"You're sure about that? Loretta was with them?" Grey asked since he had been too busy to notice.

"Yes," Lucy answered, "there was no doubt, but what could have happened?"

"I-I'm sure it is not Loretta's fault," Wendy sniffed and tried to wipe her tears away with her arm, "she was definitely not herself."

"You!" The council member in charge gave an indigant scream toward the Fairy Tail members. "You have ruined everything! You went against the council by getting yourselves involved and on top of that you let them get away! You must have plotted with them; I know you tried to save that traitor before and-gah!"

"Shut up!" Natsu angrily struck the council man on the head, making him go unconscious. "This is your fault in the first place!" Natsu practically growled in anger and turned away from the pitiful man on the ground. "Erza…" He noticed Erza was still looking at where the Riesig had disappeared into the horizon, "we will definitely get them back, Gerard and Loretta!"

"Yes Natsu, we definitely will." Erza looked for a moment longer, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and then turned to them all. "Come let us go back, we have much to do." Everyone instantly followed her command and they returned to Fairy Tail, leaving the battlefield behind for the council to take care of.

**Author's Note: I know everyone is a little weirded out by what happened in Fairy Tail recently but that won't stop this story! Well I hope you got a little excited, seeing for the first time a taste of the powers the Xin Clan has at their command, plus the little twist in the chapter as well. So far Fairy Tail is having a hard time against them as their plan continues to go on unimpeded.**

**Well hope you enjoyed this chapter, and give a round of applause to my ever wonderful reader who will remain unknown to you all. When I got my proofread copy back this time, well it was not a pretty sight to be sure so I thank my wonderful proofreader with all my heart.**

**Well I got a lot of wheels turning in my head to throw at you but as usual I have no idea when I'll get around to doing it. Until next time, see ya!**


	11. Aftermath of the Execution

Chapter 11 - Gathering Storm

"Blast that kid can really pack a punch." Brax complained; he had no shirt on but long bandages were wrapped around his ribs. He tried to nurse his sore spots a bit but recoiled when he accidently put on too much pressure.

"Was it really necessary for you to put delay magic on yourself?" Xing-fu questioned his subordinate. "All that did was make you feel all of his strikes at once later. I am sure at his level you could have defeated him without relying on your magic."

"True, but who was the one who ordered me to stop them?" Brax huffed in reply, "I was just making sure to keep the dragon slayer beaten down so he would not get in the way."

"Yes I suppose I must commend you for your dutiful attention to my orders." Xing-fu took a look around their hideout.

This time the Xin clan's hideout was actually a hospital in one of the nearby cities, of course the Riesig had been ditched outside but even if someone did manage to find it only Yashe was capable of moving the thing with his very special archive type magic. The thing about a hospital was that they had access to magical equipment, and even if their location was known to their enemies they would think twice about doing damage to a city hospital which would instantly put them on the city's most wanted list. It was a most wonderful neutral location indeed.

It also helped a lot with Yashe's current work on the captured amnesiac, Gerard. "How is the procedure progressing?" Questioned Xing-fu. "Can he be restored to his normal, devious self?"

"It would have been a lot easier if that Dragon Slayer Loretta, had been good enough for your little plan but I suppose I must work with what you got me." Yashe sighed and brought up a data chart in the air to look over. "As I suspected Gerard's circuitry was really messed up, Etherion really did a number on him. Well as you may know, but I doubt it, the human brain works a lot like archive magic really, electric signals course through the brain which can trigger many switches that soon process information, performs actions, and so on. Basically his brain circuitry has been short circuited, so to speak, especially in regards to his memory banks. Really all I need to do is reestablish the connection with my wonderful little devices, plus that one added feature you mentioned, and frankly his brain should be able to heal itself on its own. While I say this as if I am going to do it in fact I have already done so."

"I see, when do you think his memories will return?"

"Well it is a bit hard to say. His memories will still be a bit fuzzy at first, but I am sure when he wakes up a good deal of his memories and personality will be back. A lot less work to be sure than repressing Loretta's brain functions while giving her body new commands so that she would be under our control yet still be able to fight properly, heavens that was a hard order to fill; Gerard by comparison was baking a cake, which I happen to be fairly good at by the way."

"Only with my help however." Irene piped up from a book she was reading. One thing that could be counted upon, other than her seal that could protect them, was in her spare time, one could almost always find her in some corner with her eyes glued to the pages of a book.

"What are you talking about Irene? All you ever did was read me the instructions, if I remember correctly you turned a lot paler that one time." Yashe teased, causing Irene's cheeks to flare up, indicating that an issue with flour had been involved.

"Humph, and who was the one who mixed up the table and teaspoons?" She fought back through her embarrassment.

Davine came into the room from the outside, in a nurse's outfit that no real nurse would ever dare wearing to work. "Really, you two are an inspiration to couples everywhere."

"**Shut up!**" The tall and short couple shouted simultaneously causing Davine to laugh behind the back of her hand.

"Oh Davine how cruel you can be at times." Takeshi chided from a nearby hospital bed. Laying on his side with one arm to support his head he had decided for fun to use his magic to make it appear he was lying on thin air in the middle of the room. "Despite your obvious uses seductress, I do believe that Irene and Yashe are more central to the plan, especially if you consider our current one.

"Well you are as uncharming as always Mr. Plain." Davine spoke with a bored expression on her face while Takeshi popped a vein. Her expression turned to one of joy as she waltzed over to Xing-fu and daintily cradled her arms around his neck which of course she could not see because of his heavy black veil. "Do you not find me enchanting, my lord?" She practically purred but Xing-fu remained unflinching.

"Indeed you are my dear but I fear that I am a slave to the love of power and duty." Xing-fu firmly pried her off but in a way that seemed almost regretful. "I cannot find pleasure in the arms of a woman until I take back what is rightfully mine! Once I have all that I need the Xin Clan will rule once again and the world shall bow before my might!" Xing-fu, as he was speaking, had started to make flourishing hand motions in the air, making him look almost like some kind of shaman. He stopped his drama to look straight at Davine, "also quite frankly you are not my type."

"Ha ha ha! Way to go leader, put that broad in her place!" Brax laughed uproariously though not without a few flickers of pain.

"As if you know anything about love you ex-soldier or whatever you were that does violent things for sport."

"I was once a Special Forces member and you'd better remember that woman." Brax crossed his arms and glared at her. "If you ever even think about trying your tricks on me just remember I was trained to endure the worst of torture and even mentally conditioned to block out magic emotion manipulators. You would fail and I would make sure to punish you."

"Oh really and how would you punish me hum?" Davine of course struck a seductive pose which extenuated her rather generous proportions, the nurse costume of course made it look even more risqué than usual.

"Stop trying to fill my mind with crude thoughts you obviously depraved wench."

"Everyone be quiet!" Xing-fu shouted causing all other activity to cease, while they did not get along all that well they knew well enough to listen to their leader. They heard some grunting from behind a medical bed curtain where Gerard had been placed and there Yashe had operated on him. "I do believe our guest is starting to wake up." Sure enough, they could hear the bed creak a little as Gerard sat up and then tossed the curtains to the side to glare at his kidnappers.

"Where the heck is this and who are you!" The ex-council member demanded of the Xin-clan. Gerard started to get a migraine, his eyebrows knitted together and he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Arrg, everything is so muddy right now."

"Well that is to be expected after being nearly destroyed by the Etherion you tired to collect in the Tower of Paradise, it was hard work to try and restore your memory." Yashe explained.

Gerard slowly brought his hand away from his face and narrowed his eyes at the semi-transparent armor clad Yashe. "My memory? What are you getting at?"

Yashe was about to explain when Xing-fu interrupted, "For the past few months you were imprisoned for your crimes against the magic council, being your infiltration and personal use of the Council's great magic the Etherion for the purpose of activating the R system. You were about to be executed for your crimes but we, the Xin Clan, decided to save you. Do you remember anything?"

Gerard frowned and tried to think but his mind still had a while to go before he could piece everything together. "Vaguely, the R system was not completed and the Tower of Paradise was destroyed." Gerard jumped off the bed, had to bow and hold his head for a brief moment in pain and then stood up straight. "I will thank you for your assistance but my plans require me elsewhere so before you ask I will not be helping you." Gerard determinedly marched toward a door while Davine gave him a sour look.

"You would just leave your savior without even offering something in return?" Davine angrily accused Gerard and got in his way causing him to stop.

"I gave my thanks and I feel no obligation to help you. Now move aside." Despite his fragmented memories Gerard's presence and magical power were still very much evident, causing Davine to back up in alarm.

"Yes I figured as much Gerard Fernandez but would you still say no if I gave you the opportunity to destroy the one that stopped your scheme, the Salamander?" Xing-fu questioned the powerful mage.

"Such a title has no meaning to me." Gerard opened the door but Xing-fu started to talk again.

"Oh I am sorry of course you would not remember that in your condition. What I meant to say is do you want to pay back Natsu Dragneel for the humiliation he put you through and how he managed to save Erza Scarlet before the sacrifice could be complete."

Gerard's eyes grew wide as soon as he heard "Natsu", the connections in his brain started to work again and he collapsed on his knees, his hands clutching his face. "Natsu…Natsu Dragneel. Erza Scarlet. He, Natsu took her from me. He ate the Etherion and gained immense power equal to my own. Natsu Dragneel, he destroyed my Tower of Paradise. He ruined everything!" Gerard started to breathe heavily as memories flooded back to him. Forcing himself up on one knee, he managed to bring a hand down to push up on his knee as he slowly rose back up.

"Erza Scarlet was to be my sacrifice for the resurrection of the Black Magician Zeref! Yet Natsu interfered! As long as he exists my plans will never come to be!" Gerard's migraine started to go away as his eyes burned with hate. "I will destroy him utterly!"

"Yes I see you remember your hated foe quite well. The thing is we will have to, shall we say; go to war with Fairy Tail soon but it would be most helpful if you would join our cause. To give you some incentive I will make sure that you get some alone time with Dragneel so you can settle your differences. I can assure you this will be your best chance of destroying Natsu once and for all; otherwise it will almost be certain that he will not be alone long enough for you to execute your revenge." Xing-fu probably smiled with delight, knowing that he had Gerard right where he wanted him.

"Only if you can absolutely make certain that I will be the one to finish Natsu. Erza Scarlet should have been mine but he dared to interfere with my machinations! This alliance shall only be temporary; as soon as I have exacted my revenge I will no longer help you as I must construct the next Tower of Paradise as soon as possible." Gerard turned around to face Xing-fu on hand still on the doorknob.

"I am glad for you assistance Gerard, until the time is right I will let you do as you please, just make sure you do not get caught by the council before then. Yashe will contact you when the time is right." Xing-fu instructed.

Gerard smiled, "That suits me just fine." With that Gerard left, leaving the room to silence.

"What an infuriating man," Davine almost ground her teeth in anger, "to give such disrespect to you Xing-fu and more importantly to threaten me!"

"As usual you seem to have your priorities switched around." Irene commented dryly as she flipped another page in her rather large, black leather book with no title to show what it was.

"What are you talking about? Of course I am the most important person here." Davine said as if it was fact.

"Well narcissism always was your strong point." Brax grunted from a position as far from Davine as possible. "I'm surprised you don't carry a diamond encrusted mirror with you all the time."

"As if I would carry around such an expensive thing, it is only silver after all."

Brax coughed, "Ugh, to think I was that close to reality, disgusting."

Xing-fu watched the exchanges between his guild members with some amusement though his thoughts were preoccupied with his latest success in his grand scheme. _"Now that I have my key piece it will not be long before everything can be accomplished and I can assume my birthright. Not long at all."_

xxxxxxxXXXXXXxxxxxxx

Fairy Tail was used to getting a lot of complaints from the Magic Council, stacks of complaints, lists and piles so high that if a mage was unfortunate enough to topple them and they crashed down, it would be hard to rescue them from the paperwork catastrophe. What was happening now though was completely different from the norm. A Council messenger had been personally sent over to rebuke Fairy Tail for their involvement during Gerard's kidnapping from the execution grounds.

"You were implicitly instructed not to interfere with the proceedings!" Unlike the usual messengers this one was human so at the very least they did not have to listen to any croaking. "Your rash actions have caused a great disturbance in Magnolia and once again you have put the council in a bad light! There have been charges made against you, implying that those fiends may have in fact been hired by you to prevent the death of one of the foulest criminals in the Council's history!"

"What the heck! We were trying to beat up those guys!" Natsu objected resoundedly to the messenger's accusation. Makarov warned him to stay silent with a hand and a hard stare.

"Or you were trying to make it look like you had not part in it." The messenger responded haughtily but then changed his tune a little, "in any case suspicion has been cast on this guild and it is required that you make amends for your disgraceful conduct."

Makarov blew a smoke ring from his pipe, causing the messenger to have to scoot to the side to avoid what appeared to be a smoking arrow. "I can see where this is going, if I am following this right, the council wants us to recover the criminal for them." The messenger looked annoyed but in no way challenged the guild master's statement. "As I thought."

"The council does wish for you to prove your loyalty to the system by returning Gerard Fernandez to custody. I would suggest the sooner the better for your own sakes."

"What kind of crap is this?" Lucy venomously interjected, "It is the Council's fault that the Xing Clan had been able to so easily get under you in the first place!"

"The Council admits to nothing young mage! You have been warned, the council expects results soon!" His job finished, the messenger huffed away under many eyes that threw invisible daggers into his back.

"Keh, the council is as heartless as ever I see." Grey frowned; the scar above his eye seemed more prominent than usual because of the slight furrowing of his eyebrows.

"Juvia agrees whole-heartedly with Grey-sama!"

"Why did they have to go so far as to put the blame on us when we clearly had no relations with the kidnappers?" Levy asked, voicing the inner thoughts of many of the other Fairy Tail members.

"The Council's political maneuvering." Erza stated quite firmly, barely concealed rage hiding just beneath her skin.

Mira decided to elaborate, "Indeed Erza. You see Levy, Lucy," she added Lucy's name as she could tell her thoughts were closely aligned with Levy's, "right now the Council's approval rating in the public eye is at an all time low thanks to the Tower of Paradise Incident. They were hoping to gain back some trust with the execution of Gerard but with what has just happened, in order to ensure they are not seen as powerless, they needed a scapegoat to cover their latest mishap and we just happened to fit the bill."

"_If only I could have stopped Wendy from reviving Gerard back then this never would have happened,"_ Charle thought to herself from her position, standing on a table next to the petite Air Dragon Slayer.

"That's just not right!" Lucy slammed a palm on a nearby table in frustration.

"No it is not but I am afraid we cannot ignore the Council this time." Makarov sighed as he ran low on tobacco. "We have been in the spotlight too much as of late in these kinds of incidents."

"Well all of this doesn't matter one bit! I was going to find and pummel those guys down anyway and get Gerard back from them!" Was Natsu's fiery response to the situation.

Grey grinned, "I have to agree with you Natsu, and after what has happened I certainly cannot leave those idiots to be after they humiliated us in that last battle."

"I agree with Grey and Natsu-san!" Quite a few people turned to Wendy, not expecting her to suddenly speak up with such strength. The sudden attention caused the poor girl to start fidgeting with the hem of her dress. "Be-besides, we have to save L-Loretta-san too."

"Well said Wendy!" Lucy grinned. After seeing Wendy's resolve her own was boosted up quite high. "We'll definitely give it everything we got!" A chorus of encouraging yells raised the roof as the whole guild got pumped up for the hunt.

"Hmmm, I am glad to see everyone so worked up but the fact is that we have no leads on where the Xin Clan might be hiding." Makarov noted rather sagely.

Natsu was about to interject when Erza cut him off. "That is true Master, but judging from our last encounter with our foes I suspect that it is their intent to find us. Our confrontation cannot be very far off in the future."

"We'll certainly be ready for them when they show their faces!" Natsu smirked while cracking his knuckles in anticipation, more than eager for a rematch in the near future.

**Author's Note: Literally an aftermath chapter so not too much going on. A few things were hopefully explained and as you can see Gerard, having all his memories come back has gone back to his old ways. Having been brainwashed for so many years of course he is still going to be angry about what happened, he hasn't had years in jail yet to mellow out since this is before the time skip. Well hope you enjoy it, while this chapter mostly concentrated on the villians the next chapter will focus more on the main Fairy Tail characters before I feel I can have the next battle happen. Need to flesh out some feelings, thoughts, maybe a cameo or two. Well hope you enjoyed this fairly short chapter so until next time.**


	12. Discovering Oneself

Chapter 12 – Discovering Oneself

There had been no leads on the Xing Clan's whereabouts which had infuriated Natsu to no end. Even with the constant reminders that the Xing Clan would probably be the ones to make the first move on them, one could still tell Natsu was quite ticked off. Still the old, more lively and energetic Natsu popped up quite frequently which put people at ease. The guild was put on high alert and no one was allowed to wander by themselves until they could find out exactly what their enemies were up to. Missions still needed to be done, however, so once again Natsu, Erza, Wendy, Lucy, and Gray had set out for a rather distant location near the base of a mountain range with Charle and Happy in tow.

Of course transportation had been needed to get to the location, so they had taken a train most of the way there. Natsu had somehow managed to survive the ordeal, largely thanks to Wendy's magic, so Erza had not needed to resort to knocking him out. As Wendy had pointed out once, the effectiveness of her Troia on Natsu would get weaker with each use and now really only prevented Natsu from feeling the need to throw up. When his feet were on ground again he rubbed his cheek on the ground as though paying it homage.

"Ground, ah how wonderful you are to me right now," Natsu stated as he fawned the ground, making Wendy feel a little embarrassed which she tried to hide by laughing a little.

"Ha ha, ya ok Natsu-san."

"Wendy, you really are a lifesaver you know?" Natsu pushed himself up and hugged Wendy, taking her completely by surprise.

"Hey! What are you doing to Wendy?!" Charle shouted as Wendy's face was completely buried in Natsu's chest, her arms flailing about trying to escape. As soon as Natsu stopped crushing her, though his hands were now on her shoulders, Wendy tried to regain her breath.

"Next time Wendy can't you give me a bit of a stronger one though? If you could do that all the time I would be really grateful!" Natsu's joyous looking eyes bored into Wendy's who found herself trying to avoid looking back, not really sure what to do.

"Y-You know it doesn't work that way Natsu-" The clang of metal fist against an even harder head rang out as Erza smacked Natsu to the ground who thankfully had the sense to let go of Wendy and not drag her down with him.

"Natsu, learn to deal with it on your own. Wendy has more important things to do than help you ride a vehicle." Erza looked down sternly at the dragon slayer who slowly got back up.

"Well I don't know about that-" Wendy started to say but this time Natsu interrupted her.

"What was that for Erza!? I just wanted Wendy to know how amazing her magic is!"

Erza closed her eyes for a moment, gave a short sigh and opened them to stare down Natsu. "I will not repeat what I just said, besides I can always make you forgot your transportation sickness if need be." Her right fist seemed to be ready for action.

"Ok, ok I get it already!" Natsu backed off and then looked at what appeared to be a small village nestled between two large mountains that they were heading to. "So is this the place then?" It certainly was a quaint looking place.

"Well it must be, at least according to this map I got from Levy," Lucy mused. A magical diagram of the surrounding area appeared in the air above the map, which indicated their location with a red dot and proudly pronounced the name of the town that had hired them, Freet Village.

"Hmmm, I wonder if a Freet is a kind of fish." Happy pondered, eliciting a sigh from Charle.

"I highly doubt it, male cat."

"I must say it really does not look like it is in that much trouble despite the job they posted." Gray noted as the group steadily got closer, the few buildings that were there looked small and perhaps not exactly sturdy looking but there certainly appeared to be no danger around. Still the village had complained of bandit mages in the area so perhaps they were not really into property damage.

A middle-aged looking man waved to them from the outskirts of the village.

"That must be our employer." Lucy waved back to him and soon they were face to face.

"Greetings Mages, I think you for your timely arrival." The man greeted them warmly but Erza was not there for pleasantries.

"Now where are the villains who are terrorizing your village?"

"I am afraid it will be impossible to locate them during the day, they remain well hidden in the mountains until nightfall when they have the advantage. Still we will be happy to accommodate you the best we can until then so that you may protect us and stop this menace from raiding our village from now on."

"I see," Gray responded with a bit of discontent in having to wait so long, "then if you would point us toward our accommodations?"

"Yes, certainly," The man nodded and was going to show them the way when he noticed one member missing. The pink-haired dragon slayer was quite easy to spot, trapping away with Happy flying the air beside him. "Is your friend not coming along?"

"Do not worry about him, where he goes is of no consequence to me." Erza flatly responded to his question.

"I see, well if you would all follow me then."

As they followed, Lucy walked along-side Grey and nudged him a bit to get his attention. "Doesn't Erza seem to be acting a bit weird, I mean, I sort of knew she's going through a bit of a rough time but she's been awfully cold to Natsu the whole trip. Usually, she'd have put Natsu in check instead of just letting him run off."

Grey's face had a hint of concern to match Lucy's, "I know what you mean, it's not like her. I can't say I know anything we can do about it." The two walked in silence behind Erza for a while, until Lucy noticed a missing presence.

"Grey, have you seen Wendy and Charle?"

Grey looked around really quickly and then scratched the back of his head with a slight frown on his face. "No, I guess they must have gone after Natsu. I hope nothing stupid happens while she's catching up with that flame head."

"Still, she should be able to catch up and Natsu should notice if anything fishy is going on, I think."

"Don't you think fishy is a poor choice of words here? After all Happy is with him." Grey pointed out.

"I guess you're right, if it turns out to be fishy then Happy would distract Natsu from noticing anything else." Both wished feverishly that everything would turn out all right.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxXXXXXXXXXXXX Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I wonder where this trail leads? What do you think Happy?" Natsu asked as the two trekked their way up what looked like a fairly well-worn animal trail. The village was already a good distance behind them as they found themselves hiking up a small mountain.

"Hmmm judging by the trail and where we are going…I have no idea but I hope it's a river with a lot of fish!"

"I hear ya Happy! Let's race to the top!" Natsu gave himself a little jet propulsion with the help of his flames to speed up the slope, pretty much ignoring the trail altogether.

"Aye sir!" Happy agreed easily and flew up after Natsu. Natsu had a lead but with Happy's obvious advantage the Exceed was quickly catching up to the Dragon Slayer. Happy just barely made it up first with Natsu very close behind.

"Nice one Happy, you managed to beat me! Huh, what's this?" Natsu quickly forgot about the competition as she started to inspect what appeared to be a small, wooden shrine on the top of the hill; although, it turned out to be more like the top of a plateau that had decided it needed to be connected on one side to an even bigger mountain that was a bit off in the distance. The area was fairly level with plenty of foliage and trees that the trail continued off into, but the area around the shrine was bare.

Natsu walked toward the small shrine and started to examine it from all sides. The small shrine doors were open; inside was a small, worn out sign, and below were the remains of what had been an offering with a few burnt out incense sticks as well as a plate that may have once had food on it. Natsu rested a hand on his chin and narrowed his eyes as he tried to make out what the sign said. "This Shrine is de-at-d to De-oun, what? I can't make this out at all."

"Let me see that Natsu!" Happy interrupted as he flew into the Shrine for a better look and attempted to continue where Natsu left off. "Deer-oun, the Spir, o, Wisdom." Happy pondered it for a moment then came up with an idea. "This must have been a shrine to give deer hunters good luck!"

"Oh you really think so Happy! Then that means there has got to be something good around here!" Taking Happy's word as fact, Natsu and Happy decided to rush along the road a ways more to see what they could find, managing to completely miss a sign that was on the ground, covered in weeds that said, _Shrine Property, No Hunting or Fishing Allowed_.

Much to their delight, they soon came upon a river, with a bear sitting on the bank that had its back faced directly at them. "Natsu!" Happy tried to whisper but did so rather unsuccessfully, as the bear's ear twitched at Happy's voice.

"What is it Happy?"

"We need to take down that bear or we don't get any fish!"

"Well I'm sure the bear could be good eating anyway so let's go!" Natsu grinned as his hands flared up with his flames as he shot toward the bear's back to attack. "Iron Fist of the Fire Dragon!"

As Natsu got within striking distance the bear turned around, teeth bared with the largest popped vein one could imagine on its forehead. "Shut up! You'll scare all the fish away!" The bear roared as it smashed Natsu on the side of the head with a free paw, the other one holding on to a fishing pole with its line in the water. Natsu careened from the hit and bounced along the ground a few times before he managed to right himself and skid a few more feet right-up. Happy's eyes were as big as Saucer's, which actually wasn't that much bigger than usual, and Natsu was also quite surprised by both the powerful retaliation as well as the fact that the bear had spoken and was fishing with a fishing pole.

"Wow, did you come from Edolas or something?" Natsu asked, the initial shock replaced by curiosity and wonder. "You've got a really strong arm there too!"

The bear raised an eyebrow at Natsu's question and did not appear to make any more hostile moves as Natsu was no longer attacking it. "I'm surprised someone as young as you knows about the parallel world but for your question no, I am not a resident of that world." The bear looked at his fishing spot but any fish in that stretch of the river were long gone after both of their initial outbursts. "It may take a while before they try biting again. Why did you not read the sign along the road? If I am not mistaken you were trying to make roasted bear out of me Natsu Dragneel."

"Wow, you live way out here and you know Natsu!" Happy sounded quite amazing as he flew closer to the bear. "I'm Happy by the way, a pleasure to meet you fellow fish lover!" Happy extended a small paw toward the bear who bemusedly decided to shake it with its free hand.

"Yes, the Exceed that travels with the Dragon Slayer, I know. Now, just sit down and behave yourself or I'll have to chase you out. Since I have a feeling you won't be leaving very soon I might as well tell you who I am. My name is Deerhound." The Bear shifted its weight a little as it concentrated on its pole.

"Are deer your primary food then?" Happy could not help but ask.

"It's a name, not a title." Deerhound the bear grunted and was concentrating on his pole when he slowly turned his head toward the Dragon Slayer that was not right beside him. "Would you please stop touching me, I would rather not have the chance of getting my fur singed."

"Oh, sorry about that." Natsu quickly apologized, remembering the strike to the side of his face, and stopped palming Deerhound's coat. After that though, Natsu went strangely silent, which was quite odd considering just how loud and obnoxious the flame-head had been before. Deerhound noticed his behavior very quickly and sighed, putting down the pole as he gave up on trying to catch anything. "People are inexplicably drawn here when they have something on their minds, young Dragon Slayer, and if I am not mistaken the problem stems from your relationship with a certain young woman."

Natsu, who had started to stare off a bit into space, was brought back to reality by Deerhound's words. "How in the world do you know so much Deerhound? I've only just met you and you seem to know quite a lot."

"Well let's just say knowledge is my forte."

"Can't say I ever expected I'd be talking to a bear about this but you seem like a nice enough guy." Natsu laid back on the river bank with a plop and stared up at the sky, tree branches obscuring good portions of it. "Well, Erza has just been so down and irritated lately after that guy, Gerard was busted out of Prison by that Xin clan or whatever and she's just not the Erza I know anymore. It's so frustrating, I mean, I want to rescue that guy too but she's just been so…" Natsu frowned as his brain tried to think of what he wanted to say but that circuitry burn out before the correct answer came to him. "Ugh, I don't know but she should know I'll set everything right, besides, I promised Simon that I'd take care of her and I intend to do just that! I'll make sure to take him back and get the Erza I know back." Natsu raised a fist to the sky with a determined look on his face. "I will do it, but I just can't seem to do anything for her right now and I hate seeing her like this."

Deerhound pondered his words as he thought of what to say back. "Even if one has all the knowledge in the world it can be hard to know what to do when matters of the heart are involved. I am not sure what kind of advice I can give on this I'm afraid. Still I must ask this, Son of Igneel, you like Erza do you not?"

"Of course I do! I like Erza very much," Deerhound was quite taken aback by Natsu's abrupt confession, at least until his next few words, "I like everyone in Fairy Tail to the point of wiping out 10 dark guilds to defend them!"

"Err, well that's good and all, but I mean in a more…well special way?" Deerhound asked, trying to pinpoint the real question without saying it outright.

"Special way? What are you talking about?"

"Well I mean that…you know what, forget it, it's not that important." Deerhound grunted, deciding to give up on sparking a connection between Natsu's brain and a very important word in the dictionary.

"What the heck? Don't just cut off like that? Tell me what you're trying to say! Come on; just shoot it out will ya!" Natsu commanded as she started to pound on Deerhound's large arm.

"Stop that!" Deerhound roared right into Natsu's face, causing him to reflexively roll out of the way to take a battle position. "It will mean nothing if you cannot come up with the question and answer for yourself. If you can figure that out, then maybe there is a chance for you to figure everything out on your own." Deerhound huffed out some air as he picked up his fishing pole once again. "I certainly hope you can figure it out soon."

"Natsu-san! Happy! Are you here?" Natsu and Happy turned toward the direction of Wendy's voice, just as she was becoming visible.

"Hey Wendy! Come and meet Deerhound here!" Natsu waved vigorously to the small dragon slayer and Exceed partner Charle.

"What are you talking about Salamander? Has the mountain air messed with your head or something? There is no one here besides the male-cat." Charle declared curtly while Natsu looked at her in puzzlement. Natsu turned to where Deerhound had been a moment before only to see an empty embankment, without even a bear-sized depression to indicate that he had been there in the first place.

"How the heck did he manage to do that? That is one fast bear! He was right here just a second ago, you believe me right Wendy?"

"Umm, well of course I do Natsu-san. But it looks like-" She paused for a brief moment when some movement caught her eye, up in one of the trees was the bear in question. It noticed she had spotted it and put a claw up to its lips, signaling she should keep quiet. "It's left already." She finished, deciding to go along with Deerhound.

"Well enough of this foolishness," Charle said with contempt for the carefree attitudes of Natsu and Happy, "We should go back and join with the others as I do believe it will soon be nightfall."

"You're right Charle, if we don't get back soon, Erza is going to finish them all off before I even get a chance to fight! Come on Happy! We need to hurry!" Natsu shouted out in a panicked state at thinking about not being able to do anything after that long, dangerous train ride.

"Aye Sir!" Happy replied with gusto and the two quickly started to run back toward the village.

"Natsu-san and Happy sure like to go places quickly." Wendy mused as they were disappearing rapidly from sight.

"Humph, they're just a pair of idiots. Now as for this Deerhound." Charle glanced up as Deerhound quickly shimmied down the tree to stand in front of them.

"Please forgive my behavior just then," Deerhound started to apologize for giving Natsu the slip, "but while I attempted to give the Salamander some advice to his situation, I could not find any effective way to get my point across and I found talking to him…taxing."

"Please, don't be sorry, I've had similar feelings myself." Charle sighed and unconsciously rubbed one of her ears. "Talking to them is like talking to a fish, they flop around a lot in a conversation and hardly anything can manage to fit in the small place somewhere in their thick skulls." Charle seemed pleased with her analysis, until she realized something that brought her newfound horror. "Oh heavens no, I'm acting like Happy now, comparing them to a fish." Charle's ears drooped and she turned away from the both of them, curled up into a ball and a dark aura started to mask her presence. "I can't believe I've let him effect me to this extent."

Wendy let out a weak laugh and was going to say something to Charle but Deerhound intervened, "While I may not have been able to help Natsu, if you would just stay for a brief moment I may be able to help you with your current situation Wendy Marvell." Wendy looked up at Deerhound in surprise at him knowing her name and apparently about what had happened recently.

"You have some advice about what I can do for Loretta-san? Is there some way I can bring her back?"

"Well as you probably noticed in your last encounter she is definitely not herself. She is being controlled by the Xin clan and will no doubt prove to be a fearsome foe."

"I see, but there must be a way to save her!" Wendy insisted as a determined look formed on her face as she prepared for what would come next.

"She can be saved this is true, but the only sure way is for you to defeat her first."

Wendy's eyes grew wide at what the bear was implicating, "b-but there is no way I can defeat Loretta-san! She is so powerful and skilled; I don't think I'll ever be able to surpass her. Can't someone else do it? Maybe Natsu-san?" Wendy's mind raced with possibilities of who could take her place but Deerhound only shook his head.

"No, if I am not mistaken you are the only one who will be able to save her. It will be difficult no doubt but, I believe you will find the answer to this dilemma in the friendship you have formed with her."

"My, friendship with Loretta-san?"

"Yes."

"But I-I don't understand?"

"You will, when the time comes. Now I am afraid I must go small dragon slayer. Be brave in the upcoming battles ahead." Deerhound gave Wendy a light pat on the head with a paw that was seemed to almost envelop her and turned around. Before Wendy could even really react, he was already gone.

"I-I don't have the confidence to save Loretta-san, but I'll definitely try with all my strength!" Wendy clenched her fists put them up at chest level and gave a decisive nod to show her determination. "Come on Charle, let's head back," Wendy started to walk but then realized Charle did not stir from her curled up position, "Charle?" She asked, wondering what was wrong.

"I definitely, definitely won't let it happen again, ever!" Charle kept mumbling to herself while managing to look as pitiful as a cat that had been left out in the rain an entire night and still was not dry.

"Oh Charle," Wendy kneeled down beside Charle and started to pet her, "Yoshi, Yoshi, come on Charle you'll be alright."

xxxxXXXXxxxx

By the time Wendy had made it back down to the village, with Charle at least partially consoled, the mission had already been accomplished. It was very easily to tell that the bandits, along with a good portion of the village, had been totally annihilated in the fight judging from the moaning bodies, giant craters, exploded walls and enough chicken feathers to probably make around a dozen pillows. All of this as mere background information though in comparison to the heated conversation Natsu was having with Erza, with Grey and Lucy trying to calm them both down without endangering their own lives.

"You couldn't leave more than one guy for me to take down!" Natsu growled at the female knight mage, obviously feeling more than a bit left out of the ridiculous amount of action that had taken place there.

"It is not my fault that you decided to run around on your own when you knew that the bandits were going to assault the town near nightfall. Be glad that you even got one punch in." Erza berated the dragon slayer with her arms crossed in defiance.

"You had already nearly beaten him to death already! It was like punching jelly!" Natsu protested back. "You knew I was looking forward to trashing them around!"

"Now, now, everything is already over and done with; can't we just be happy we got the job done?" Lucy tried to console the two, but it was quite hard to have any real influence when one is talking from several yards away. Lucy couldn't help but think, while she was attempting to calm down the two forces that could change a landscape, _"Though I'm not really happy about this since it looks like I won't get any pay for a job…again."_ She found herself glancing over at what appeared to be a very distressed chicken that was acting like it had lost its head during the battle earlier. It fluttered around, making a racket that could raise the dead, and promptly managed over the remains of a house wall and fell silent. Lucy could no longer see it but she guessed that the chicken had somehow managed to knock itself out in its panicked state.

"Lucy's right," Grey said, trying to bolster her argument even a little, "the mission is over and we had best find lodging for the night so we can leave early in the morning, maybe by then we'll all have cooled down."

"Don't butt in Grey! Besides, I didn't go off alone, I was with Happy!" Natsu shot back at Erza as if daring her to contradict him.

"That is not the point Natsu," Erza blew a puff of air in annoyance, "the point is you should have stayed with the group if you wanted to fight! Because of you Wendy also missed all the action since she went after you." Erza looked at Wendy with an apologetic look on her face and Wendy very quickly started to shake her hands in front of her.

"No no, Erza-san, I really didn't mind missing out, really." Wendy replied, both trying to keep things from escalating and also feeling somewhat happy that she had missed out on the action, considering the amount of damage that could almost be felt by just standing there. "Well umm, Natsu-san, Erza-san please don't argue anymore." Wendy found that she couldn't really face the two so she lowered her head and started twirling her index fingers around each other as she shy shared her thoughts with them.

"I-I know that you both feel strongly, about what has happened recently with Gerard-san." Wendy risked a very quick glance up and noticed that both Natsu and Erza had at least briefly stopped harping away at each other and both had troubled looks on their faces, their eyes looking away from each other as their own individual thoughts started to occupy their thought processes. "I know that each of us has our own unique feelings about the situation but we should not allow this to break each other apart!" Wendy clenched her tiny little fists and bit her bottom lip a bit as she struggled to explain. "Gerard-san and Loretta-san have both been taken away from us and we cannot sit by while those two are suffering! I-I am sure that it will be difficult a-and I know that our only hope is for all of us to work together! Please forget about anything else you're thinking right now and just concentrate on saving them!" Wendy raised her head up after clenching her eyes tightly shut during her last sentence and slowly opened her eyes; tears had welled up in them and fell from her eyes, blurring her vision a bit so that she had to wipe away the tears. When she could see clearly, she saw that both Natsu and Erza were looking at each other and even seemed a bit embarrassed.

Natsu scratched his head and sighed, "You're right Wendy; I really should be saving up everything for when I find those guys that took them. I can't say there is much point in thinking about it though since I already know exactly what I'm going to do." Natsu grinned and knocked his fists together with a resounding smash. "I'm going to beat those annoying guys up and take back both Loretta and Gerard from them! There is no way those guys are going to get the best of me ever again!"

Erza could not help but smile a bit at Natsu's proclamation as she felt all her previous anger fading away like a fart in the wind, though without the smell of course. "Well I suppose I could not agree more Natsu, we will indeed beat the Xin Clan and save both our companions."

"Of course we will! It's already been decided and I will personally drag Gerard back with us when the time comes, you can count on it Erza!" Natsu had spoken with such conviction that Erza could not help but feel a little bit moved by his proclamation.

"I suppose I will have to keep you to your word then." Both Grey and Lucy felt relieved as Erza took Natsu at his word; it appeared that the impending crisis had been averted thanks to Wendy's heartfelt speech. Wendy may be small and shy, but no one had a bigger heart than she did; to that everyone could testify without even an ounce of doubt.

"Now that everyone is acting at least semi-intelligent can we go get some sleep now?" Charle sort of half demanded with obvious irritation laced in her voice. Everyone quickly agreed and headed toward the undamaged part of the village where they met a man who directed them to their lodgings; however, Lucy and Grey found themselves thinking about the mission itself for a bit and stayed a bit behind the rest of the group.

"You know Grey, Erza is really powerful and everything when she's angry but even so, didn't those bandits seem a little too weak for an A-class mission? I mean, they hardly put up any resistance at all." Lucy mused to the Ice Creation magic mage as they walked.

"It did seem a bit too easy that is true." Grey quickly agreed as he processed everything that happened. "Also if you look at the damage, doesn't the village seem a little too well stocked for some place that supposedly has been under constant raids?"

Lucy looked around and realized that it was true, strewn about the rubble was boxes, broken pottery, foodstuffs, and enough chicken feathers to have belonged to a whole flock of birds. The buildings were at the outskirts of the village, which was not really saying much since pretty much the entire village would be considered as in the outskirts, and should have been stripped of anything of value which was obviously not the case. "You're right Grey, this is quite strange. I just hope this doesn't mean there is some hidden agenda at work here we've gotten caught up in, it certainly wouldn't be the first time."

"Well let's keep our guards up just in case."

"Right" Lucy agreed as they arrived at their lodgings for the night, which was what could only be described as a barn that had seen much better days. "Ummm, didn't we have much better lodgings than this?"

"We did have better lodgings for you," replied the man who had greeted them when they first arrived and had led them to their current inn for the night, "but it got destroyed when you fought those bandits."

"Oh, right, I guess I could have guessed that."

**Author's Note: Well I pretty much promised myself that I would at least finish this fanfic and I intend to do just that. Yes I know that it has been more than half a year since my last chapter but I have finally...FINALLY finished this latest chapter which is basically a transition chapter toward the next big, and most likely final, arc. Hopefully I will not disappoint once the next chapters start to come up and hope that you enjoyed reading this chapter. **

**As always, please review at your pleasure, constructive criticism and encouragement are much appreciated. Until the next chapter, may your appetite be wet with anticipation and hopefully I can get my act together and start grinding these guys out.**


	13. Barn Time and a Train to Destiny

Chapter 13 – Barn Time and a Train to Destiny

Erza could not sleep that night, though her sleeplessness was definitely not caused by the drafts that came through cracks in the walls, animals walking around like they owned the place, dust that seemed to coat the air like chocolate on an apple, or even the dry and itchy hay that was strewn all over the place as if civilization had forgotten what a hay bale was; no, none of that was the reason since Erza was wearing very special heart kruz pajamas that literally forced anything from bothering her through means of magical intimidation. Anything that tried to touch her skin was intercepted and forced to back off and animals that found themselves wandering too near felt suddenly like a Thanksgiving full of eager butchers was upon them and quickly retreated. Erza found her mind had descended into a trap hole which would not let her escape; if anyone had been awake they might have figured out what it was she was thinking about, if they listened hard enough to hear her whisper to the ceiling, "Gerard…"

Erza sighed and stood up, took a quick look around to make sure no one else was disturbed and quickly noted everyone's various sleeping positions. Lucy had made what appeared to be a fairly comfortable nest of blankets to try and keep as much of a barrier as possible between her and everything in the barn. Stellar Spirit Virgo had made sure that nothing would disturb the princess and had helped her make that bed. Gray had somehow managed to crawl into a rather large haystack; his clothes and underwear were on top of said haystack, which obviously meant that Gray was only not nude to the world thanks to the wonders of hay. Wendy was off to the side and was curled up in a rather pathetic looking ball under a few small blankets which vibrated a bit with her shivering. Natsu, well, apparently while he was sleeping he was having a very vivid dream as currently he had in his clutches a very terrified piglet. Natsu drooled and licked his lips in anticipation but had yet to bite into the pork chop, although no doubt the piglet was dreading would happen quite soon.

Erza smiled very briefly at that image before taking leave of the barn. There was a cold breeze outside but her pajamas threatened the wind which graciously parted for her. After she had gone a fair distance away she sat down on the remains of what had been a house to think. While she was glad the execution had been interrupted, she had, once again, been forced to see Gerard slip away from her. First the ghost of Zeref had taken him, then the Council, and now this latest group had been the culprits.

Gerard had lost his memory and perhaps in time she could have helped him become the person she knew back then. That hope had been dashed, however, with the execution proclamation and was even compounded by his kidnapping. Perhaps the Xin Clan wanted to try and use him for some evil scheme? That was the most likely case as the Tower of Paradise incident had made him quite famous throughout the world and anyone with that amount of planning and power would make a good ally without a doubt. She was unsure if that was the case of course but she needed to save him from falling again, after he had been given a chance to turn his life around, even if it was only for a brief time before the Council proceeded with their plans.

Any option she chose would have some kind of negative consequence; she just hoped she would have the strength to make the right one. Time continued to flow as she looked into herself for the answers that continued to elude her mockingly.

* * *

Wendy woke up very cold on the verge of shivering. During the night she had apparently kicked off her blanket and her body had naturally taken the fetal position to try and keep warm. She rubbed the sleepies out of her eyes with one of her tiny fists and searched for her blanket. As she suspected it had not gone far and no doubt the blanket had not deserted her by choice. She considered calling out for Charle but decided against it since she did not want to take the chance of waking anyone up and Charle needed her rest anyway. With a cute sort of half groan, half mewing sound, she forced her limbs away from her body and rescued the prodigal blanket.

She wrapped the blanket around her slender frame and managed to stop a sneeze but the cold had done its work and the small bundle started to tremble.

"It's s-s-so c-cold, if I go back to sleep now I just might wake up with a cold. I wonder if there are any spare blankets around?" Wendy forced herself to move as she started to look around in the dark. It was a fairly bright night, with stars scattered across the heavens and a moon so big, despite the small bite in it, that Wendy found she could actually see fairly well, though mostly that was the barn's fault as it had obviously been designed by an architect who had failed his building material exam.

After examining the premises she could not find any blankets that were not already taken, the majority of the blankets being from the Celestial Spirit Realm that were wrapped around Lucy who had explained that those blankets were under contract so only she could use them. She had apologized for the inconvenience but Wendy could not help but feel at least a little jealous at the cocoon Lucy was wrapped in.

Suddenly there was an unearthly squeal that sounded as if three toad messengers from the Council had started an acapella group and were trying to hit a high note without any training whatsoever; needless to say, it was horrifying.

Wendy turned to the noise, as new chills entered her spine and adrenaline attempted to burst into her system despite the cold, and saw that Natsu had bitten the pig held in his grip. Survival instinct from the dawn of time kicked in as the pig thrust its way out of Natsu's grip and bolted for the door while Natsu fell on his face. Wendy stood still for a few seconds, expecting someone to stir but Gray was probably used to loud noises and Lucy apparently had earplugs, probably having learned from experience that loud noises with Natsu's team could happen anytime, anywhere.

Natsu rolled over onto his back wiped, off his face with his arm, and somehow managed to keep from waking up. Wendy still felt at least a little freaked out from the swine's scream of utmost terror and found herself inching over toward Natsu, as he seemed to give out more of a sense of security than either the obviously undressed Grey or the princess wrapped Lucy. "Ahhh, going back to sleep is going to be hard," Wendy complained. She soon found herself with a few feet of Natsu and then started to realize something: the nearer she got to Natsu, the warmer it got. At first, not sure about her discovery, she got even closer and the warm started to permeate her body, as a fire dragon slayer Natsu was literally a human heater.

Her first thought was to get closer but soon she realized that any closer and she would be literally right next to him and that immediately gave her pause. "If I get any closer I'll be right next to Natsu-san" she whispered to herself not sure what to do. She was close enough now to easily see his face and could not help but blush a little. _"I-I'm sure Natsu-san wouldn't do anything to me and probably wouldn't mind if I, well, shared his warmth." _Wendy thought to herself, trying to find the courage to take advantage of his heater like qualities but if she did that then, well, they'd probably be touching.

Wendy found herself in a dilemma, her body was already craving the warmth Natsu was giving out but frankly she just found it so embarrassing that she just couldn't seem to make up her mind. Finally, Wendy decided to wrap herself in the blanket and lay down as close as she could without there being any contact between them. It was close enough that most of her body was feeling his excess heat and she was glad to have found a happy medium. _"Whew, well this will be fine I think."_ Wendy turned to face Natsu and could not help but smile a little bit,_ " Good-night!"_ Wendy replied happily in her mind and closed her eyes but then something happened which caused her to eyes to snap back open.

"E-eh?" Wendy managed to say as she felt Natsu's arm's grab her and drag her the last few inches over towards him. Instantly Wendy's face was completely flushed from a combination of warmth and self-consciousness. The two dragon slayers found themselves face to face with each other though only Wendy was aware of what was going on.

"N-Natsu-san?" She inquired weakly trying to get some response out of him. Natsu grinned and a little drool trickled down from his mouth. This time the color drained from her cheeks as she remembered what had happened just a few minutes before with the pig. "Wait Natsu-san! I-I'm not food!" Wendy protested and she tried to push herself away but Natsu's grip was too tight. Natsu's face got closer and Wendy shut her eyes in fear, Natsu sniffed her, recognized that the object in his arms was not edible, and promptly flopped back on his back, releasing his grip.

Feeling she was no longer a captive Wendy closed her eyes for a bit and breathed out a sigh of relief. Still, the experience had certainly caused her heart to pound quite wildly, and while she decided to stay because of his warmth, she quickly turned to face away from him and buried herself completely under the blanket.

"_I really hope I can calm down so I can go to sleep." _Wendy thought to herself, but despite her near heart attack, since she was no longer looking at Natsu her heart calmed down and within a minute or two she thankfully entered the realm of dreams that can never decide on what they want to do with a person.

* * *

Erza stood up. She had gone over everything stirring in her mind for quite some time but the only real conclusion she could come up with was to do everything in her power to save Gerard. The Gerard she once knew had been given a chance at returning, due to his memory loss, and if at all possible she wanted to make sure the kind person she knew as a child would be the one left behind even if his memories returned. For that to happen she needed to make sure to get him back, even if they would be forced by the council to give him back up.

Erza made her way back inside, determined, but still a bit jumbled inside with mixed feelings on the matter. It had been brighter outside than in the old barn so her eyes had to adjust back to the darkness. Soon she was able to see most everything again. She turned to look at Natsu who had started to sleep talk, "I'll definitely bring him back Erza," the sound was a bit mumbled but Erza's trained senses easily recognized the words. Natsu was pretty amazing, even in his sleep he was more than ready to trade blows with Gerard again for her; frankly, she did not think she had a better friend in the world than the fiery dragon slayer at this moment in her life.

Erza quietly walked over to Natsu and knelt by his side. Natsu had turned on his back; apparently the pig had escaped his grasp and it appeared to be hiding under the blanket, probably in terror. As she looked down on his face, she could not help but think that it was a bit cute, despite the obvious signs of slobber on one side of his mouth. Right below her was the rather stupid looking face of the man who had saved her and who had allowed her to keep moving forward. If it had not been for Natsu during the Tower of Paradise incident, she would no longer be alive, and that dream she had inside the lachrima would have become a reality. She was definitely indebted to him in more ways than one, her and Gerard.

Erza looked at him with gentle eyes and found herself starting to stroke his spiky pink hair. He was still quite an idiot but she had helped him learn, to read for example, and his conviction, strength, and will were something even she found herself jealous of at times. She had lost her will to live that day but Natsu had never given up on her. She leaned down a bit closer to Natsu and smiled, "Thank you Natsu, for everything. But I can't let you keep doing this; I will be the one to bring him back this time." Erza stopped stroking his hair and leaned back up, she did not want to rely on Natsu's strength anymore, it was time for her to take responsibility for Gerard, but suddenly Natsu stopped her by speaking.

"Wait, I made a promise…with Simone," Natsu's voice trailed off and Erza's eyes went wide in shock. Natsu had promised Simone something before he gave his life to protect them at the Tower of Paradise? She leaned back down, hoping to catch what the promise actually was but his words were too incoherent to hear properly.

"Natsu! What did you promise Simone! Answer me!" Erza was just about to shake him awake when she was frozen solid, as Wendy emerged from under the blanket with Natsu, rubbing her pretty eyes to get out the offending sleepies.

"Erza-san?" She asked, obviously not quite fully cognoscente yet, "What are you doing to Natsu-san?" Her questions were innocent enough but Erza very quickly realized the situation she was in and for some reason a page from a romantic novel she had borrowed from Levy came up in her mind. Erza started to blush furiously but she was able to think the situation through well enough to realize there was a simple way out of any such misunderstanding.

Quickly Erza acted and ex-quipped an armored gauntlet, "Natsu, what do you think you are doing sleeping with Wendy like that!" Natsu's scream filled the barn as Erza pummeled the poor dragon slayer awake.

No one was getting any more sleep that night.

* * *

Team Natsu were on the train, traveling back home; however, the aura in the air was not one of victory or joy but a heavy air that could put molasses to shame, it was dripping with resentment. Lucy and Gray looked at the three figures across from them, unsure of whether they should just be disgusted or perhaps fearful of the situation. Erza and Natsu were not on speaking terms with each other, any and all progress that had been made seemed to have already been reversed by the previous night's events. Natsu was bruised and battered with a permanent scowl on his face, Erza looked ticked off and more than willing to pound him some more if she didn't give off the impression she did not even want to look at him.

Poor Wendy was stuck in-between the two volcanoes, clenched fists on her knees, shoulders scrunched toward the center of her body as if trying to make herself as skinny as possible to avoid touching either flame-head of potential destruction. Wendy had her eyes cast down and could only feel that her actions last night had somehow remixed the bad blood between the two and it was all her fault. The only way she could look more pitiable and depressed was if she started crying, something Lucy and Grey were desperate to keep from happening.

"Now come on Erza, we all know that it was all harmless, Wendy already explained she just was seeking warmth, no harm done." Lucy tried to console the powerful female red-head with logic. Erza's eyes turned toward Lucy with an accusing glare.

"And who was it that was hogging most of the blankets in the first place?" Erza seemed to almost growl and Lucy felt like she was being put of a pit of Erza's swords, all freshly sharpened and ready to cut her into a sliced ham.

"Well it's not my fault, Virgo was insistent and-" Lucy felt a decisive chill as if the point of a sword had touched her spine, "yes it's all my fault." Lucy inwardly breathed a sigh of relief as her confession lessened Erza's intimidating glare, though she felt some small amount of defeat at giving in.

"Natsu," Gray began, trying to reason with his rival, "Being beat up by Erza isn't anything to be angry about; after all it usually happens this way anyway. You know that Erza doesn't really think you did anything wrong, she's just well," Gray tried to think of something to say here but nothing really came to mind, "well you know."

"Shut up Gray! She caught me by surprise and it wasn't even a fair fight! Erza should have at least woken me up first before striking!" Natsu argued venomously.

"_I should have known that only thing he was angry about was the fight not being fair." _Gray thought to himself as he rolled his eyes.

While Erza was perhaps a bit mad at what she saw, in reality she was just hiding behind her knight face to hide her embarrassment at how Wendy had seen her, hovering right above Natsu. Erza turned a bit from her view out the window to look at Wendy's tiny form and could not help but feel pity for her plight. "_Sorry Wendy, I'll try to make it up to you later but I just don't want anyone else to know about last night."_ Even now when she thought about the position she had been in, she was finding it hard to keep her cheeks from flaring up.

"Wendy if you're feeling uncomfortable why don't you come over with us?" Lucy switched tactics, at least hoping to save Wendy from the fix she was in.

"Thanks Lucy-san, but I feel like I need to be here, it is my fault after all." Wendy bit her bottom lip a bit trying to stay courageous while being between a rock and a hard place that could easily pulverize her without too much effort.

"What rubbish," Charle scoffed at Wendy's feet, "those two are just acting like complete children and you have no obligation to help them sort through this ludicrousness. Don't feel like you have to suffer for their sakes." Wendy shook her head, determined to stay there to help any way she could. Charle sighed and gave up, knowing how stubborn the small dragon slayer could be.

Silence prevailed for a while longer but before someone attempted to break the ice again, everyone felt themselves almost get thrown toward the front of the train, as the emergency brakes were applied.

"What in the world is going on?!" Gray shouted as he clung to his seat, the inertia of the train making sure that it took quite a bit of time to come to a full stop. Panic could be felt throughout the train as people were flung to the ground or forced to hold on for dear life because of the emergency stop. As soon as everything ground to a halt, the passengers started to discuss what could be the cause, such as fallen trees, a broken track, and so on. One of the passengers who had his head stuck out the window yelled out something which instantly made all of Team Natsu forget the silent war going on as something was going on as they all had a hunch to what it was.

"There's a giant robot in front of the train and it's forced us to stop!" Erza and Natsu's glaring eyes snapped wide open and they turned to look at each other, both of their eyes filled with the same question and the potential consequences if it were in fact what they thought it could be. Their psyches seemed to connect in just a few moments and their eyes were filled with resolve, with a nod they both started to look out the window toward the front, if seeing the automaton itself was not confirmation enough and familiar voice boomed throughout the train.

"Greetings citizens and mages on this passenger train headed to Magnolia! Let me assure you that I have no intentions of harming any of my future citizens under the soon to be resurrected Xin dynasty but I have business with certain individuals onboard, namely those from the Magic Guild Fairy Tail!" The leader of the Xin clan's voice was magically broadcast to all those in range and even a magical image was projected in the sky above the train, showing the ornately dressed clan leader, his arms held out in front of him widely as if to embrace the entire sky, no doubt having an ego to match such a grand scheme.

"It's that guy who took Gerard!" Natsu gritted his teeth in anger and Erza strengthened her resolve for the fight that would doubtless take place.

"I hope that you all will accept my generous invitation and I am quite certain the people on board will not object to you having to depart from the train early." Xin-Fu's threat was quite obvious and fear had already gripped many of the passengers.

"We can't allow anyone else to be put in danger so let's go!" Erza commanded the team who instantly nodded and they all departed from the train.

"Good, I am glad you accepted, now as a man of my word I will be more than happy to allow the train to continue on its way." Of course since Xin-Fu had on a dark veil covering his entire face it was impossible to tell but from the way he spoke it was not stretch of imagination to image him grinning in triumph. True to his word, their automaton the Riesig moved off of the track and the train was allowed to continue on its journey, leaving the Fairy Tail members alone with the Xin Clan and their huge weapon.

"Be thankful Fairy Tail for you shall be the key to a new chapter in Fiore's history!" Xin laughed wildly as Team Natsu glared up at Xin along with all his lackeys who in turn looked down on them. "Soon the world will once again know the glorious days of the Xin Dynasty!"

**Author's Note - Well it was certainly a long time in the coming eh? Glad I finally forced myself to write it and hopefully I will be able to start the next chapter in the near future. The Xin Clan has made their move and what plans do they have for Team Natsu? Well I certainly know what happens, I just have to get to writing it so that you can know what happens. XD. Well I certainly hope you have enjoyed reading this fanfiction so far, only a few chapters to go until the finale. Let's see what deliciousness me and my ever helpful editor can cook up for you in hopefully the near future. Until then, see ya!**


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